Summary: The friends go to Monica's apartment for Thanksgiving. Phoebe is watching a dog for a friend which becomes a problem when Chandler reveals that he hates dogs. Rachel invites Tag over for to Monica's for the gathering. Ross tries to name all 50 states.
The Good: There are some good jokes in this episode. Rachel's interactions with Tag are consistently funny and I did laugh at Joey accidentally giving everything away and promptly leaving. Ross trying to name all 50 states is a fun and relatable C-plot, and his complete anguish as he repeatedly fails is funny. The "moo point" joke is also a very clever joke. The Bad: Chandler's fear of dogs is so hard to believe. He doesn't offer any kind of valid reason for his dislike of dogs and that makes it impossible for me to buy into this story. It's too silly and unrealistic for the relatable humour that "Friends" specializes in to work. What's worse is how everyone else refuses to acknowledge Chandler's fear and care for his emotions. Instead they just abuse him, proving themselves to be awful friends. Rachel and Tag's story has some stupid moments too. Joey's reveal, while funny, is bogged down by its unoriginality (the show has used similar jokes several times already). Also, Tag's car getting stolen seems like a random and stupid way to get Tag out of the story so that Rachel can have some scenes where she freaks out about what happened. Best Moment: The moo point. Character of the Episode: Joey. Conclusion: This had its funny moments, but overall it is quite stupid and is easily the worst Thanksgivings episode so far, which is a shame because the Thanksgiving episodes have typically been quite good. Score: 53
0 Comments
Summary: In flashbacks, Eko is sent by the church to investigate a miracle he doesn't believe. A girl, Charlotte has apparently come back to life, but her father, Richard Malkin, denies that it happened. Charlotte reaches out to Eko and tells him that Yemi left a message for him and that they will see each other soon. On the island, Eko dreams of Ana Lucia who tells him to get Locke to take him to the question mark. Eko arrives at the hatch and leaves with Locke to track Henry. Michael tells a story that Henry escaped and shot them all. However, Libby is still alive and Jack tries to treat her. Hurley learns what happened to Libby and comes to the hatch. Libby eventually dies. Meanwhile, Locke has a dream showing him where to go next. He and Eko find the question mark underneath the Beechcraft. They find a hatch and discover another Dharma station, The Pearl. They watch an orientation video explaining that the button is apparently a psychological experiment. This shatters Locke's faith and he angrily lashes out, but Eko decides that he is going to start pushing the button now.
The Good: This was a true return to form for "Lost". This season has had its moments and I've been entertained during most episodes, but it never seemed to threaten the consistently jawdropping storytelling of season 1 until now. Now we've had a stretch of strong episodes which have built up to this one, which develops the mythology and advances characters in a brilliant and organic way, making me feel the same sense of wonder that I felt while watching season 1. Dreams have been badly misused this season, becoming meaningless (like in "Everybody Hates Hugo" and "Fire + Water"). Thankfully, that changed in this episode and the mystique of dreams has returned as the island seemingly guides Eko and Locke throughout this episode by sending dreams, just like in "Deus Ex Machina", one of the best episodes of the show. This episode takes a lot of inspiration from "Deus Ex Machina" and I think that's one of the reasons that it is so fantastic. It's so refreshing to see an episode that feels so important, and the narrative is given a driving force through the use of dreams. The character arcs of Eko and Locke become intercut in this episode, and seeing the contrast between them makes for incredible television. Eko is now in the position Locke was in back in season 1. He's the optimistic believer while Locke is the disappointed skeptic. I greatly enjoyed their interactions, and I thought that the advancement of their journey was a joy to watch. I especially liked their wildly different reactions to the orientation video, showcasing how each character is on a different journey, taking different meanings from what the island shows them. Eko's arc is the main focus of the episode, and it's a joy to behold. In the flashbacks we learn that while Eko has taken over Yemi's line of work out of guilt, he isn't truly a believer. He doesn't have the faith nor the passion to be a priest. But Charlotte delivers him a message from Yemi which evidently sways Eko a little bit. And so when Eko lands on the island and actually finds Yemi in the plane (this plot also brilliantly explains why Eko seemed so unhinged when Claire showed him the Virgin Mary statue), he truly starts to believe. And so Eko takes instructions from the island without question, and his faith holds strong throughout the episode as he forces Locke to come with him in an attempt to get him to find his way again. Locke on the other hand, has a completely different story. Fresh off of yet another failure which resulted in the deaths of two people, Locke is bitter, upset and completely unwilling to go anywhere with Eko. He is more shaken and lost than he has ever been. But when the possibility of his faith being rewarded presents itself, Locke begins to believe again and it's wonderful to see. From Locke standing eagerly while Eko climbed to him wanting to open the hatch himself, it's easy to see that Locke is beginning to feel that he can believe again. But that all get snuffed out when he watches that orientation video which seems to confirm that everything he had been doing so far was pointless. It's sad to see Locke slowly realize that everything was for nothing, and his disappointment and anger following that is completely understandable. I've been critical about Locke's character arc earlier in the season and my complaints still stand strong, but I have to admit that the show has recovered his story in an outstanding way. Once again, Locke has become one of the show's most compelling characters. It was lovely to get some answers in this episode. The ? was brought up a few episodes ago, and now we get to see what it is. Like in "Maternity Leave", it was very fun to explore a brand new Dharma station just because of the possibilities of what could be found in there. The orientation video was a lovely surprise that deepened the mystery of the island. (see: The Unknown). The story in the hatch was pretty solid as well. Libby's death was suitably sad, as was Hurley's guilt over forgetting the blankets. I was pleased with Jack finding a way to determine the location of the guns by sending Kate with Sawyer to get the heroin. Sawyer hiding the guns in his own tent was a fittingly clever move from him and I liked the reveal. The Bad: Unfortunately, the storyline of Sawyer getting the guns led absolutely nowhere. There were a few filler B-plots showing Sawyer being an asshole, but that's all the pay-off we got from that exciting ending to "The Long Con". That's quite disappointing. Libby waking up and having some dramatic final words felt needlessly melodramatic. Showing some restraint and having her die quietly while unconscious would have been a much more powerful moment. It seems strange that Jack wouldn't question Eko's choice to take a man on crutches to go after Henry. The Unknown: So Richard Malkin is apparently a fraud. Should we believe him? If the show is simply confirming that Malkin was a fake all along, that is quite a disappointing answer especially seeing how desperate he was to get Claire to raise her baby. Could it be that he was a fraud that unexpectedly had a legitimate vision which promptly scared him? I do hope that we get to see more of Malkin so we can learn more about what happened. Where are the Dharma headquarters that the notebooks were being sent to? Is anybody still there to receive Locke's note? The Pearl is apparently a psychological station. What are all of the TVs for? Do they all show various parts of The Swan? Is the button actually real or is it all just a psychological experiment? Could it be that Dharma simply created a psychological experiment out of a job they actually needed to do? Does the button actually do anything? Why does Marvin Candle have a different name in this orientation video? Best Moment: Eko and Locke's differing reactions to the orientation video were amazing. Locke is angry and lets out his rage in an incredible way. Whereas Eko takes the video as reaffirmation of his faith and he tells Locke his entire story. Eko's speech is such a wonderful moment for the character, and his decision to push the button himself was great. Character of the Episode: Eko, though Locke is a very close second. Conclusion: What an episode. I've been very critical of this season so far despite it still offering very good television regularly because it feels like a big step down from season 1. But this episode makes it feel like going through the rough patches of the season was well worth it. There are still brilliant stories to be told, and this episode makes it clear that "Lost" hasn't forgotten what made it so good to begin with. Score: 82 Summary: Ross notices people having sex in the library where his book is and tries to prevent it from happening. Monica encounters Janice who inserts herself into Monica and Chandler's life despite being unwanted. Rachel and Phoebe try to convince Joey to get in a serious relationship with a girl.
The Good: There is a lot to like here. The Joey plot is surprisingly good and it tells a fresh story that hasn't been done before. There are solid laughs here, and a relatable story is told as Joey finally desires a serious relationship only for the girl he was dating to not be looking for something serious. Rachel and Phoebe are also subtle in most of their pushes and they have some pretty funny moments. Janice remains a fun character and she has some funny moments in the episode. Ross' story is good for the odd laugh and he gets a lot of the episode's funniest moments. The conclusion with Ross ironically getting busted after all of his preventive measures was genuinely funny. As was the joke of Chandler and Monica showing up at the library. The Bad: Some things didn't work here. Chandler and Monica's actions aren't particularly organic and that hurts the comedy significantly. Janice is also quite the caricature here and isn't as funny as she used to be. Best Moment: The man at the front desk assuming that Ross wanted to have sex at the fifth floor spot was very funny. Even 7 seasons in, "Friends" is still very good at creating funny one-off characters. Character of the Episode: Ross. Conclusion: This was a very funny episode with three solid storylines. There were a few flaws, but this was pleasingly consistent. Score: 69 Summary: In flashbacks, Ana goes to Australia after her mother figures out that she murdered Jason. Ana meets Christian who is in a pathetic state. Ana initially agrees to be his bodyguard, but leaves him after realizing how toxic his behaviour is. She decides to go back home. On the island, Ana tries to get more answers from Henry who attacks her. Locke knocks him out. Ana goes to Sawyer in an attempt to get a gun. Sawyer refuses but Ana has sex with him and steals his gun. Jack and Kate bring Michael back to the hatch. He wakes up and tells them that the others are extremely unprepared and that they need to fight. Jack, Locke and Kate go to Sawyer to get back the guns, leaving Ana and Michael in the hatch alone with Henry. Ana tries to kill Henry but realizes that she's unable to do it. She gives the gun to Michael who kills her and Libby before freeing Henry and shooting himself in the shoulder. Hurley had set up a picnic with Libby who had gone to the hatch to get blankets.
The Good: What a fantastic ending. The show just delivered an incredible cliffhanger that left me speechless. I was legitimately stunned when Michael shot Ana Lucia, and then Libby's death immediately afterwards was even more shocking. I think that this was the biggest scene of the show so far that completely changed the direction that the show was heading in. A sense of grandeur doesn't necessarily guarantee an awesome scene however. The execution of the scene is half of the battle, and I'm pleased to say that this was done perfectly. Harold Perrineau did a spectacular job of conveying Michael's emotions as he worked up the courage to kill Ana Lucia, and then afterwards when he started feeling the guilt of what he just did. The directing was also top-notch. The shots and camera angles were done perfectly, and the lack of music made the scene carry much more weight. Before that ending, this episode was all about Ana Lucia, and it told two very compelling stories in the past and present that see Ana grow as a character and change her behaviour for the better. It's quite sad that she dies immediately after we see her resolve her inner conflict. On the island, her storyline mirrors the flashbacks we saw in "Collision". Courtesy of the flashbacks in this episode, we see the negative consequences that revenge murder had on Ana Lucia's life. Her murder of Jason, and also her murder of Shannon on the island, drove a wedge between her and everyone else she knew. She became distant and lost herself by denying any help. Now when she's given a chance to kill again, she doesn't make the same mistake twice and overcomes one of her biggest character flaws. It's a lovely bit of storytelling, and it's so easy to sympathize with Ana here when she realizes that she isn't the person she thought she was. In the flashbacks we get a similarly effective story. After killing Jason, Ana runs away from her problems by going to Australia and drinking. When she's there, we get another surprise appearance as she meets Christian who gives her a reason not to stay in Australia, lest she become as miserable and pathetic as he is. Seeing his sorry state, Ana decides to go back and fix her life, calling her mother and righting the wrongs she had done. The phone call with her mother was a very powerful scene, and the fact that this scene precedes Ana's emotional speech to Michael gives the episode a perfect emotional climax. There were some small things I liked. Hurley and Libby's relationship was suitably sweet throughout the episode, and I liked Hurley asking Sayid for the radio. Jack burning the end of Sawyer's book was pretty funny and fit with Jack's character. Ana having sex with Sawyer just to get his gun was pretty clever. The Bad: The only thing preventing this from being top-tier television is the lack of urgency. The story is well told throughout, but there is never any drive or excitement until the final few minutes when you realize that Ana Lucia has a gun and is alone in the hatch with Henry. Had I began to grow uneasy with tension earlier in the episode, this would have been much better. The Unknown: Henry's claim that the two dead others were good people who were leaving Ana alone is very interesting. Why would he think this? Does this imply that the others wouldn't have done anything aside from kidnapping some of the people? Does Henry think that the others are in the right with their actions? I like what that implies since the best villains are always the ones with good intentions and sympathetic motives. Who is Christian's daughter? Does Jack know that he has a half-sister running around somewhere? How old is she? Is she going to play a role in the story, whoever she is? Is Michael's story about the others accurate? Seeing that he just freed Henry, I have my doubts about it. Speaking of which, why did Michael agree to kill the survivors and free Henry? Was he brainwashed? Did he make some sort of deal with the others? Has he joined with the others? Christian bumps into Sawyer on the way to the bar, adding on to the many coincidental character meetings that we have seen in the flashbacks. Best Moment: The ending of course. Character of the Episode: Ana Lucia. Conclusion: This was a really strong character piece which became a fantastic episode in the final 5 minutes with an emotional conclusion for Ana Lucia's character and a stunning cliffhanger that promises an exciting final act in the season. Score: 78 Summary: Gideon gives Mando, Cara and Greef until nightfall to lay down their weapons. IG-11 saves Baby Yoda and attacks the town. Mando's group emerges and tries to fight out but everyone ends up trapped in the building again. They escape into the sewers with IG-11's help as flame troopers burn down the building. Mando finds that the group of Mandalorians have all been killed, save the armourer. The armourer tells Mando that he is in charge of fathering Baby Yoda now, and gives him a jet pack and the mud horn insignia. The group goes to escape, only to find storm troopers blocking the exit. IG-11 self-destructs to ensure that everyone else can escape. Gideon arrives in his TIE fighter and Mando uses his newly acquired jet pack to take it out. Mando leaves the planet with Baby Yoda, while Cara and Greef stay on Nevarro. Gideon emerges from the wreckage wielding the Darksaber.
The Good: This was an action-packed and wildly entertaining finale to a strong first season. There's a lot to like about this episode as it brings the season to a memorable and emotionally satisfying close while also laying down the foundation for season 2. Surprisingly, there was a lot of humour in this episode and it worked very well. Unlike the new trilogy, the humour here is organic and clever, and I found myself laughing out loud a number of times. Greef was given loads of excellent lines in this episode, and I especially liked the joke when he tried to get the baby to do the "magic hand thing". The opening moments were also incredibly well done. The conversation between the two scout troopers was funny and filled with personality. It added some depth to the world by developing the foot soldiers while also giving us an idea of the kind of relationship the soldiers have with the higher-ups. Plus I got a big laugh when the scout troopers proved to be inept at aiming their shots, poking fun at a common trope of "Star Wars" movies and TV shows. The main plot was pretty exciting. The heroes were left in quite a pickle at the end of the last episode, so we got to follow them attempt to escape. The action sequences early in the episode were a lot of fun and managed to include plenty of brilliant moments. I liked IG-11 blasting its way through town, Mando turning the tables by grabbing the E-Web Cannon, and Gideon making the smart move to take out Mando. The sequence was well done and allowed the heroes to do a lot of damage without ever making the villains look like chumps, which is actually quite impressive. It felt like the heroes were lucky to escape alive, without it feeling cheap. I really appreciate the extra thought that was put into this sequence, and I thought that it opened the episode on a great note. Mando's story is what carried this episode, and there were so many brilliant moments with him. I'm very impressed by how much the show has invested me into this character across just 8 episodes. Mando had several strong moments here. His near-death experience was very well done, and for a couple of moments I was left wondering if the main character would actually be killed of at the end of the first season. These scenes had a defined impact however. For the first time we got to see the face underneath the mask, and that really helped humanize the character and let us fully realize that Mando is just an ordinary man in fancy armour. I can't fully explain why this moment is what did it for me, but after that I fully accepted Mando as a human character with emotions regardless of how he had been portrayed earlier in the season. There were more strong moments with Mando. I really loved the moment when he decided to play the father to Baby Yoda and raise him. It was a long time coming, but it felt like a suitable next step for the relationship the two had been developing. I also really liked Mando's interactions with IG-11. It was nice to see Mando gradually begin to trust the droid as the episode went on, and Mando's obvious unwillingness to part with the droid at the end of the episode felt like an earned moment. I really like how Mando has evolved as a person as this series has went on, showing more and more of his softer side in every passing episode. IG-11's sacrifice was an excellent moment. The scene was executed really well, and I did feel for the droid after seeing it do everything it could to save Baby Yoda. The kicker of course was Mando finally coming around to the droid as it died. The story was simple, yet effective, and is exactly the kind of thing I want to see in a "Star Wars" TV show. I was pleased to get a little more background on Cara. In just a single line from Gideon, we know exactly why she rebelled against the empire. We learn she is from Alderaan, and I imagine that she lost her family when the empire destroyed the planet. Furthermore, Cara got a little more characterization in this episode which is welcome. We see her attempt to solve almost every problem she faces by shooting something, which tells us all that we need to know about her. The climax sequence was very good. The TIE fighter attack was scary and I thought that Mando got to defeat it in a way that managed to both provide an effective climax and take out Gideon in a way that feels earned but doesn't diminish how much of a threat he is. The Bad: What I didn't like was mostly just little inconsistencies that bothered me throughout the episode. What would Gideon have done if he accidentally killed Baby Yoda when burning down the building? That seemed careless on his part. Why did he keep Baby Yoda so far away from him with so few guards? That didn't make much sense either. The Unknown: The reveal that Gideon has the Darksaber was a big surprise. For those who don't know, the Darksaber is a Mandalorian relic that was a major part of "The Clone Wars". How did Gideon obtain the Darksaber? Did he kill the previous owner? Best Moment: IG-11's sacrifice was the moment that resonated most with me. Character of the Episode: IG-11. Conclusion: This was an excellent finale. It was extremely fun with great action and some strong character moments. It didn't quite engage me in the way that a lot of the best TV shows do, but then again, I never expected this show to do that. This was everything I wanted it to be, and I'm very glad I watched it. This ended up being a really good first season. It had some rough parts in the middle when there were some episodes that weren't entirely necessary, but overall I enjoyed myself. The characters were well done, there was strong world-building, good casting choices, superb direction and fun pacing. This show doesn't threaten to be anything particularly special, but it's a lot of fun to watch and I appreciate that. Something fresh like this is exactly what "Star Wars" needed to continue to be successful as a franchise. This show will be considered a gift for many "Star Wars" fans, and I think that casual fans can even get a lot of enjoyment out of this show as well. Is it flawless? No, of course not. But is it a harmless, easy-to-watch show? Absolutely. I will be eagerly awaiting season 2. Score: 68 Summary: In flashbacks, Rose and Bernard meet and immediately take a liking to each other. Bernard proposes to Rose and they marry, but Rose reveals she is dying of cancer and only has a year left. Bernard takes Rose to see Isaac, a healer. Isaac can't heal Rose, but Rose decides to tell Bernard he healed her. On the island, Bernard tries to get the survivors to help him make an SOS sign out of rocks to get rescued. Rose is opposed to the idea and in the end, the plan falls through. Rose reveals to Bernard that Isaac didn't heal her but the island did, and the two of them decide that they are staying on the island. Meanwhile, Locke leaves the hatch in frustration but has his faith restored in a conversation with Rose. Jack takes Kate to make a trade with the others. They make it to the line and Michael suddenly appears.
The Good: Bernard and Rose's relationship is explored in a beautiful way. Their romance is sweet and they have fantastic chemistry with each other throughout the episode. I can easily buy into the fact that these two love each other. What's more impressive is that the writers manage to weave a serious conflict into this episode without ever damaging the credibility of their relationship. Both of them are understandable in how they differ. Rose is frustrated by how Bernard seems more interested in doing things instead of spending time with her. Whereas Bernard is earnest and noble in what he's trying to do, and you can sympathize with the motivations behind his actions. I love how their conflict ends up being the same in past and present just with a slightly different spin to it. What made this episode work so well was how it felt like a standalone episode. The episode started with Bernard and Rose first meeting and ends with them deciding to spend the rest of their day son the island. This episode doesn't feel like part of a story because the writers told a complete character story with an emotional conclusion at the end. The episode is not quite a formula break like "The Other 48 Days" was, but it's similar in the reasons that it was successful. The themes of this episode are another highlight. The way this show explored its characters suggested that everyone was ultimately meant to find fulfillment on the island. This is the first time that we have seen some characters address that the island is where they are meant to be. This is a very important moment for the show, and it is nice to get confirmation that most, if not all, characters are likely to find closure on the island. Furthermore, we also get to see the island's magical properties in action for the first time since "Walkabout". Now we learn that the island has also cured Rose's cancer, which is a surprising reveal that makes perfect sense. I love seeing the mythology of the island developed more, and that makes this episode much more significant than a small scale love story for minor side characters. Everything else in the episode was very good. I really enjoyed the inclusion of Isaac, a healer who uses some kind of energy to cure people. This is such a fascinating inclusion that raises important questions about the island (see: The Unknown). Isaac's mysterious nature reminds me of Richard Malkin, and I'm always pleased to learn more lore. Locke's character arc continues in wonderful fashion. We get to see Locke's frustrations early in the episode, and for the first time in a long while, we see Locke completely lose faith. He leaves the hatch and sits on the beach, looking aimless and confused. But then a stellar conversation with Rose (see: Best Moment) restores his faith, and by the end of the episode he is back to working on solving the blast door map. Kate and Jack's story was also very good. The scene of them getting caught in Rousseau's trap was surprisingly fun. Kate and Jack have always had pretty unspectacular chemistry, so I didn't expect much from the scene. But this time something clicked, and the scene held the same kind of flirtatious fun that we typically only get from Kate and Sawyer's scenes. Then of course there's that great cliffhanger as Michael suddenly returns (see: The Unknown). I'm hoping that this is the catalyst that can kick the story into motion for the final few episodes of the season. The Bad: Unfortunately, this episode feels out of place. I didn't get to say it in my last review, but I feel similarly about "Dave" as I do with this episode. With about 5 episodes left in the season, it feels like we should be kicking the plot into action for an exciting conclusion. Instead, we have gotten two slow-paced character-driven episodes that haven't advanced the plot at all. Now I'm all for character episodes, but it certainly feels like these episodes should have happened earlier in the season, not right at the end. In season 1, we had two outstanding episodes in "Numbers" and "Deus Ex Machina" as episodes 18 and 19, and it should be pretty easy to see why the latest two episodes aren't as satisfying for me near the end of the season. I could see other people being very unsatisfied with this episode. Focusing on two very minor characters makes this episode feel unimportant, and I wouldn't blame anybody who was unsatisfied with this episode because they just didn't get invested in the story being told. It was odd that nobody seemed willing to help Bernard. Surely most people still want to get off this island! I understand that the writers want us to believe that Bernard's "management problems" forced everyone away, but instead everyone comes off as selfish and stupid for not wanting to bring rocks to the beach to help get off of the island. Of course Kate wouldn't have told anybody about the medical facility she found back in "Maternity Leave". It isn't "Lost" if characters don't frustratingly keep secrets all the time. The Unknown: What is the energy that Isaac was talking about? Does this energy fuel the island's powers? How does it work? Does this energy have something to do with why the Dharma Initiative went to the island? Could it have something to do with the hatch? Where has Michael been this entire time? Did the others get him? Did he escape from them? Or was he sent to Jack and Kate as a response to the trade? Why is Eko building a church? Why is Henry trying to manipulate Locke? Does he have a goal in mind? Best Moment: I really loved Locke and Rose's conversation. Their light-hearted banter was a lot of fun, and I appreciate that Rose did to Locke what he has tried to do for so many of the other survivors: help him resolve his inner conflict. Locke was broken as he sat on the beach, and Rose gave him the clarity he needed to get back to his feet and return to the hatch. Plus, there was also that fantastic line from Rose where she said that they both know that things heal faster on the island. It was a fascinating moment, and I loved seeing the two people with the most faith having a brief talk about the powers of the island. Character of the Episode: Rose. Conclusion: This was terrific stuff. The character work was great, and the exploration into the nature of the island's powers was fascinating. The only issues come from the episode's placement in the season, and that prevents the episode from scoring higher than it otherwise would have. Score: 71 Summary: In flashbacks, Hurley is at a mental hospital with a friend Dave. It's revealed that Hurley has been obsessively eating to cope with how he indirectly killed two people when he caused a deck to collapse. Hurley's doctor lets him know that Dave is imaginary and personifies Hurley's negative behaviour. Hurley is able to rid himself of Dave. Libby is revealed to be in the mental hospital with Hurley. In the present, Hurley destroys his secret stash with Libby's help but immediately stumbles upon more food. He encounters Dave again, who tells him that everything isn't real and that he has been asleep this entire time. Dave tries to get Hurley to jump off a cliff but Libby stops him and they kiss. Meanwhile, Sayid continues interrogating Henry but Henry doesn't reveal anything. Locke speaks with Henry who tells him that the button doesn't do anything.
The Good: Hurley gets some of the best character work of the season in this episode. We learn a truckload of things about him in this episode, and for once it feels like an episode this season is completely dedicated towards telling a singular, focused story about the struggles of a character. It works very well and leads to one of the more emotionally powerful episodes of the season. This episode surprisingly focuses on why Hurley is so fat. Hurley's size is something that needs to be acknowledged, and I'm very happy that that writers had the courage to tackle this subject. The background we get on Hurley is very sad and it brings his story full circle in a brilliant way. We finally learn that Hurley's past in a mental hospital was due to a traumatic experience he had when he accidentally killed two people. As a result, he picked up the habit of eating as a way to both cope with guilt and punish himself for what he did. This story is really easy to relate to, and it humanizes Hurley even more, revealing a surprisingly tragic past that Hurley carries around with him. The Dave aspect of the episode is also very well done. Dave is cast very well and he plays Hurley's subconscious very well. Dave clearly represents that part of Hurley that hates himself for what he did, and across both the island and the flashbacks plots, the story is that Hurley needs to free himself of his self-hating qualities (Dave) and move on with his life in a positive way. It's a very satisfying story to tell, and both of the cathartic moments in the episode work well. Hurley letting Dave leave in the past is a good moment, but even better is Hurley choosing not to jump and going back with Libby to move past his baggage and get on with his life. It's surprisingly heartwarming stuff that is very well executed. I really love that the show acknowledges the "dream theory" that everything is taking place in somebody's head, a joke theory that always seems to be suggested as an answer to complicated plots. Furthermore, the writers fully went through with the idea of dream theory, basing an entire episode around it rather than just poking fun of the idea. It made for a surprisingly effective story, and Hurley seemed suitably crazy for suggesting that nothing is real. The story is also helped by Dave giving surprisingly good reasons for everything being in Hurley's head. Sayid's interrogation of Henry was stellar stuff for the most part. I liked the way that he caught Henry in yet another lie, and Sayid's growing frustrations were very understandable. The Locke/Henry scene was also terrific, and one of the episode's best scenes. It's so unclear if Henry is lying or not, and that makes it fascinating for us to be given this "reveal" that the button does nothing. It's also a great move for the show because it forces Locke to face the idea that all of his faith may have been for nothing, which is the next step towards advancing Locke's character arc this season. There were a lot of little things I appreciated. Locke refusing to be put back in a wheelchair was a nice tough. Hurley beating up Sawyer is probably one of the best scenes of the entire show from a comedy/entertainment point of view. I'll always enjoy that scene. Lastly, Hurley eating peanut butter off of a leaf was suitably disgusting, and it demonstrated how horrible Hurley's eating habits are in an unexpectedly effective way. The Bad: The Dave twist is unfortunately quite easy to predict. Being predictable doesn't necessarily hurt the story too much, but it does diminish the emotional impact of Hurley realizing that Dave doesn't exist because we already know that fact and aren't experiencing the same emotions as him. Sayid attempting to murder Henry was completely idiotic. How do you plan to get information out of him if he's dead? The Unknown: Was the island testing Hurley by giving him more food immediately after he destroyed his stash? It doesn't seem like a coincidence that Hurley was given more food immediately. Could Dave have been sent by the island somehow as another test? Who is this leader that Henry mentions? How does the others' hierarchy work? What is Eko building? Was Henry telling the truth about the clock resetting on his own? We really can't trust anything he says now that he's been exposed as a liar. Why was Libby in the mental hospital? Does this have something to do with why she is getting closer to Hurley? Best Moment: Hurley revealing what happened in the accident to Dr. Brooks was fantastic stuff. It's really powerful, and all of Hurley's self-destructive behaviour is explained wonderfully in this scene, from his eating habits to the existence of Dave. Character of the Episode: Hurley. Conclusion: This was a fantastic character episode for Hurley. Sure, it was predictable and there wasn't much plot advancement, but the character work here was some of the season's absolute best. Score: 70 Summary: Ross and Joey accidentally nap together and find that they enjoy it. Monica wants Chandler to apologize to his ex-girlfriend who he broke up with because she got fat. Rachel and Phoebe try to decide who gets to be Monica's maid of honour.
The Good: This is a really fun episode with three good stories with a lot of laughs. The napping partners story is suitably awkward and is a rare case where an attempt by "Friends" to parody a real-life conflict works spectacularly well. The final scene of them being seen by everyone else is very funny. I also greatly enjoyed the talk about "Die Hard". Monica and Chandler get a great storyline. Instead of bickering stupidly, they work through a conflict in a reasonable way and both of them are charming. Chandler is funnier than he has been in a long time, and the episode is peppered with plenty of hilarious one-liners that reminded me of the Chandler we had back in the first few seasons. The Bad: There are some silly bits, but none of them detract too much from the episode. The idea of Ross and Joey napping together is pretty dumb. As is the idea that Chandler's ex-girlfriend didn't realize that Chandler dumped her because she got fat. Best Moment: There are plenty of great jokes and one-liners. My favourite jokes came from Chandler talking to Monica about his ex-girlfriend and how he dumped her because she was fat. Character of the Episode: Chandler. Conclusion: This was a very strong and consistently funny episode. I had a lot of fun watching this, and I think this was the best episode in a long time. Score: 76 Summary: In flashbacks, Locke learns that his father has died. He goes with Helen to the funeral and ends up running into Anthony alive and well. He has faked his death and asks Locke to bring him money. Locke does it but lies to Helen and says he hasn't seen him. When Locke brings Anthony the money, Helen follows him and leaves him for lying. On the island, Locke is trapped with Henry inside the hatch when a lockdown occurs and the blast doors suddenly come down. Locke tries to lift the doors and squeeze under but the door crushes his legs, trapping him. Henry goes through the vents and presses the button. The doors come up and Henry helps nurse Locke back to health. Meanwhile, Jack and Kate find a supply drop in the jungle. There they meet with the returning Sayid, Charlie and Ana Lucia. The group goes to the hatch and apprehends Henry. They found the balloon and the grave, but the man buried in the grave was the real Henry Gale.
The Good: The plot here was refreshingly strong. The lockdown was a big surprise since I had completely forgotten about the blast doors. Having Locke and Henry trapped together allowed for some solid character development while providing some tension with the timer counting down on the other side of the blast doors. The plot was engrossing and it built up organically to a wonderful climax where a mysterious map was revealed (see: Best Moment). The episode didn't stop there though. Sayid, Charlie and Ana Lucia's returns allowed for a wonderful twist at the end: Henry Gale is an other. Had this happened in any previous episode, it wouldn't have been a surprise. But this episode did an astonishing job of making Henry seem innocent through his growing bond with Locke. The shift in tone in this episode made the ending reveal a genuine surprise, proving once more that "Lost" is still capable of producing compelling twists. Locke's story is also quite good. His island and flashback stories don't correlate very much but they are both excellent stories in their own right. On the island, Locke has been succumbing to his frustrations more and more often this season. So naturally, the island tests his faith once again by taking out his legs. Locke's frustrations are prevalent once again, but then things turn around with the reveal of a surprise blast door map and Henry's decision to stand by Locke and help him. Locke's faith may have been building up once again, but now it seems that Henry was manipulating him all along. I can't imagine that Locke will have a particularly positive response to this reveal, and I'm excited to see where the character goes after this. In the flashbacks, Locke once again finds himself dragged down by his relationship with his father. In "Orientation" we see Locke leave his father behind and make his choice to stay with Helen. But when Anthony seeks him out, Locke finds it too difficult to simply leave behind an opportunity to get that fatherly love he so badly desires. Locke's response to Anthony is so understandable, and that makes it much more painful when this one unfortunate decision costs Locke everything as Helen leaves him for lying. Once again, Locke's desire for a father in his life has led to him making a very bad decision that ruined his life. I was pretty happy with Hurley commenting on how he's not in the loop and isn't allowed to know all of the secret information. At least the show is self-aware with how unrealistic it is to have all of these absurd secrets. The Bad: The poker story is a boring B-story that feels like filler. It only serves as an explanation for why Jack doesn't come back to the hatch during the lockdown. Furthermore, we get to see Jack completely own Sawyer in poker which feels like needless fanservice to show that Jack is still higher up on the island hierarchy than Sawyer is. The gangsters that showed up in Locke's flashback could not have been more generic. The leather jackets, the voice, the name "Jimmy Bane"? Come on now. The Unknown: Why was the lockdown triggered? Does it have anything to do with the supply drop that Jack and Kate found? Who dropped the supply drop anyways? Is the Dharma Initiative still operational? Who is Henry actually? It seems that he is an other. What is his position in the others' society? What was that blast door map? What is the "?" in the middle? Why did black lights come on anyways? Best Moment: The appearance of the blast door map was perfect. The episode built and built to the moment that the timer reached zero, and the tension had never been higher. And right at the moment of peak tension, the blast door map appeared and offered us a tantalizing glimpse at what this island has to offer us. And just like that, it was gone. Character of the Episode: Locke. Conclusion: This was an excellent episode. We had an engaging plot filled with mystery, and two fantastic stories for Locke. This is everything that I want from a "Lost" episode. Score: 75 Summary: In flashbacks, Jin and Sun try to have a baby but a fertility doctor says that Sun is infertile. Sun visits Jae Lee regularly to learn English and reveals that she is planning to leave Jin. The fertility doctor hunts down Sun and reveals that Jin is sterile and she is fine. On the island, Sun and Jin have an argument. Sun gets a pregnancy test and learns she is pregnant. She is afraid to tell the truth to Jin, but after talking with Jack she tells him she is pregnant and they reconcile. Meanwhile, Locke invites Ana Lucia to interrogate Henry. Ana Lucia gets him to draw a map to his balloon and she goes to find it with Sayid and Charlie.
The Good: The Ana Lucia storyline was the best part of this episode. Her interrogation of Henry was terrific and she asked some pleasingly logical questions that I'm surprised Sayid didn't ask. She gets Henry to draw a map to the balloon which is a really significant development. Her mission with Charlie and Sayid is pretty entertaining and it leads to a fantastic character moment as Ana Lucia accepts that she isn't well liked and finally apologizes to Sayid for what she did. That scene felt very real, and Sayid's reaction where he redirects his anger onto the others was tremendous. Sun and Jin's story was fairly enjoyable as well. The writers have done a spectacular job of hinting at Sun and Jin's history of being unable to have a child by showing us their gentler behaviour around babies. This has happened countless times in previous episodes, as recent as "Maternity Leave" which sees Sun telling Claire that a mother shouldn't leave her child. As for character development, Sun gets a decent look here as she makes the decision to tell Jin the truth instead of keeping more secrets, proving that she is unwilling to make the same mistakes that ruined their relationship in the past. Jin on the other hand, goes through a similar arc as he forces himself to give Sun the freedom she craves so that she can be happy, unlike before when Jin was cruel and condescending. There were some little things I really liked. The Jin POV sequence where we get to see how confusing it is for him when he can't understand anyone was very good. I really liked Sun refusing to get in the car with the doctor in the flashbacks. It was a small moment of humanity that added to the realism of the show. Lastly, I love that the show went the extra mile to provide multiple reasons that Sun didn't tell Jin she was learning English. Not only was it because she planned to leave, but also because she was secretly meeting with Jae Lee which Jin certainly wouldn't have approved of. The final scene of Henry goading Jack and Locke was a bit generic, but it was still a very fun way to end the episode. Michael Emerson did a great job, and the cliffhanger builds up a lot of excitement for the next episode. The Bad: The many secrets that characters hold are getting more frustrating by the episode. Ana Lucia not telling Jack and Locke about the map is simply absurd. Why wouldn't she let them know so they can plan their next move accordingly? The writers don't even provide a reason for her to not tell them, instead we just get yet another one-liner about how Locke and Jack are fighting. Add this secret on top of Locke not telling Jack he invited Ana Lucia in, Jack wanting nobody to know about Henry, Hurley hiding his food stash and Sun trying to hide her pregnancy. And that's only from this episode. Plus Eko and Charlie still haven't told anyone about the monster so there's that too! With all of these secrets floating around, this episode feels like it came straight out of season 2 of "The Walking Dead". This season doesn't seem to be capable of hitting the highs of season 1 with any kind of consistency. The character work isn't what it used to be. This episode tells a passable story for Sun and Jin but it is nothing special. The island story is also quite bland. Even with a plot focus this season, the island storylines aren't as consistently entertaining as they were in season 1. This episode has practically no stakes and even in the most interesting story (Ana, Sayid and Charlie's trek), literally nothing exciting happens outside of Ana's apology. Some small things bugged me too. Sayid's confusion at how Ana Lucia got Henry to cooperate was baffling to me. Surely the torturer would know the most efficient methods to get somebody to give information. Charlie is still a complete asshole and it feels so out of character. His constant smirk and rude behaviour to Ana Lucia just felt awkward. The Unknown: Did Sun have an affair with Jae Lee? If she did, then the baby would likely be his. But I won't disregard the possibility of the island curing Jin's sterility like it did Locke's legs. Is there actually a balloon or has Henry set up an ambush somehow? Best Moment: Ana Lucia apologizing for killing Shannon was a lovely moment. Character of the Episode: Ana Lucia. Conclusion: This was a decent episode with some good moments. Unfortunately there is nothing special about this and the many secrets are becoming frustrating. Score: 61 Summary: Mando receives a transmission from Greef who organizes a meeting with him, regarding working together to murder The Client. Mando picks up Cara and Kuiil as backup and meets with Greef. Greef reveals his plan but the group is suddenly attacked by Mynocks which almost kill Greef, but Baby Yoda heals him. Greef murders his men and reveals that the plan was to kill Mando but he has had a change of heart. Greef, Cara and Mando enter the town and meet with The Client while Kuiil takes Baby Yoda back to the ship. Mando is pretended to be captured and is secretly given a blaster to kill The Client. But The Client suddenly gets a transmission from Moff Gideon who has his men kill The Client and surround the building. Gideon arrives in person. Some scout troopers on speeders hunt down Kuiil and appear to kill him to take Baby Yoda.
The Good: This episode felt very important. After watching three stand-alone stories, it feels refreshing to return to the central plot. Many of the characters we were introduced to earlier this season made a welcome return that made all of the patient procedural-based storytelling feel like it had a purpose. Now that Mando has gone all over the galaxy on the run, he now calls in all of the friends he has made along the way to come to his aid. It's quite satisfying to see everyone return, engaging me more into the events of this episode. Baby Yoda's role in this episode was wonderful as we got to see more of his abilities than ever before. He proves to be very helpful as he saves Greef's life by healing his arm, but also proves to be dangerous as he mistakes a friendly round of arm wrestling for a threat and force chokes Cara. It's quite shocking to see cute little Baby Yoda almost attempting murder because he isn't old enough to comprehend what he's seeing. This episode does a lovely job of teasing deeper and more meaningful storylines for Baby Yoda, and it makes me want to see more. The main story ended up being exciting and dramatic. There were a lot of twists and turns that made things consistently unpredictable. But unlike many lesser stories which sacrifice logic for plot twists, the writers were able to make every twist feel organic with a lot of impressive moments. The early half of the episode rode on the suspense created by the question of if Greef will betray Mando or not. The episode manages to squeeze in a twist in a very unexpected way by having Greef actually side with Mando after realizing Baby Yoda's true worth. Moments like this work very well because the writing delivers. The climax of the episode was fantastic. The Client returned in all of his intimidating glory. His dialogue was as creepy as ever and the scene was packed in palpable tension. Then everything exploded in a very unexpected way as a huge Imperial force arrives and guns down The Client, setting the stage for Moff Gideon to make his big entrance. Gideon immediately carries authority and comes off as even more intimidating than The Client. The standoff in the building will be an exhilarating start to the next episode. Then of course there is Kuiil's dramatic death which ended the episode on a shockingly dark and dramatic note (see: Best Moment). The Bad: I'm not sure that we needed a whole 2 minutes dedicated to how Kuiil repaired IG-11 and nursed it back to health. The sequence wasn't that interesting and we didn't learn anything we couldn't have otherwise guessed. Greef's change of heart happened a bit too quickly for my liking. I can understand him making the decision, but I feel like it could have been given more time to properly develop. The Unknown: Is Kuiil dead or just hurt? I assume that he's dead. What does Gideon want with Baby Yoda? What are his plans? What does he know about the force? There was some interesting discussion about how some people prefer the rule of the Empire. Are the people of Nevarro happier under the rule of Gideon? Best Moment: Kuiil makes a mad dash for the ship as he is being chased down by speeders. The scene builds tension wonderfully and is shot brilliantly to convey how close Kuiil is despite the speeders catching up to him. Then we cut away briefly and the camera slowly pans to reveal to us that Baby Yoda has been captured and Kuiil has been taken out along with his Blurg. It's quite a shocking death that has a big impact as Kuiil was a pretty beloved character. Character of the Episode: Greef. Conclusion: This was an exciting episode that set up the finale in a big way. I'm sad that this first season is already close to over since it has been very fun, even with a couple of weaker episodes in the middle. Score: 66 Summary: Aaron gets sick and Claire is concerned. Rousseau shows up and warns Claire that Aaron may be infected. Claire talks to Libby about her amnesia and she starts to slowly remember what happened when she was taken by Ethan. Claire remembers being in a medical facility which has vaccines for the sickness. She goes with Kate to where this facility was with Rousseau's help. Claire doesn't find any vaccines but remembers that she was helped by a teenage girl, likely Rousseau's daughter. Claire returns to camp and Aaron is fine. Meanwhile, Eko finds out that Jack and Locke are hiding somebody in the hatch. He gets Jack to take him to Henry where Eko apologizes for killing two others.
The Good: I was surprised by the slight change in the flashback formula. Instead of getting flashes to a time before the plane crash, this episode flashes back to Claire's memories when she was taken by Ethan. This slight change makes the episode a lot more interesting as the flashbacks give us some vital information about the others while also letting us explore another Dharma station, which is engrossing and entertaining. And as a bonus, we even get the return of Ethan. The story was entertaining, and it was a good plot to have Claire attempting to find the medical facility again. We're never quite sure of what she's going to find there and that adds a degree of tension to the episode. There's also some good stuff here for Rousseau. We get to see her at her lonely best here as she seems so detached from Claire and Kate emotionally. It's evident that Rousseau is only there in the hopes that she may find Alex, so it's pretty heartbreaking when she realizes that Alex isn't there and that she must keep on living alone. Everything happening at the hatch was pretty interesting. The introduction of Henry has focused the plot on the hatch for the moment, and I really like that. This season was in dire need of a focused plot because it was extremely messy during the first 13 episodes. Everything surrounding Henry made for some compelling television. Locke has been going through a lot of frustration off-screen this season and I've mentioned before how unsatisfying that felt. Now with Henry introduced, Locke's frustration are starting to be explored and this storyline is starting to become meaningful, especially with that ending scene. On the other hand we have Eko who steals the show. Eko quickly determines that Jack and Locke are hiding something and he acts on it to further his own interests. What's so fascinating is that we aren't entirely sure what Eko's motives are so his ensuing conversation with Henry is filled with suspense and fascination, comfortably making it the best scene of the episode (see: Best Moment). The Bad: Unfortunately the character journey for Claire falls flat because she is thoroughly unlikable the entire time. She is pretty annoying and whiny and she is rude to literally everyone. She disturbs Jack really late at night and continues to complain to him about everything. Then she's rude and hostile to Sun who she asks to watch over Aaron. Finally, her interactions with Rousseau are downright horrible. Sure, Rousseau did try to take Aaron, but Claire still comes off as unnecessarily rude, especially since she needs Rousseau to help her get back to the facility and Rousseau seems willing to help. Then we have Kate who has apparently become Claire's mom off-screen considering how she turns Claire's business into her own. It's frustrating to watch Kate treat everybody like they are inferior, particularly Libby who she is unfairly mean to. I don't know why the writers think that making characters behave rudely for no reason will help us sympathize with them. "Lost" has a problem of making its characters keep unnecessary secrets. I've complained a lot about this season's poor handling of the hatch, and now it's threatening to go down the same route with Henry by having Locke and Jack inexplicably keep his presence a secret. We aren't given any good reason as to why they wouldn't tell everyone that he is there. Another issue that I'm noticing is the show's newfound desire to focus on plot instead of character. Season 1 was so good because there were outstanding character arcs in every episode that amplified an exciting island storyline. But season 2 seems to be more fixated on plot than character, especially with recent episodes like "One of Them" and "The Hunting Party" which, while great episodes, were much more interested in building up the plot instead of telling us a fresh and powerful character story. Don't get me wrong, episodes focused on plot can still be great, but they aren't as memorable as the emotions that season 1 episodes made me feel. I'm not too please with Henry trying to sow conflict between Jack and Locke. The prisoner causing dissent between his captors is such a predictable story that I've seen several times before, so I hope that we get something else instead. The Unknown: We learn so many interesting things about the others here. Judging by what Kate finds in the lockers, it appears that the others' ragged appearance may be a show. Kate finds ragged clothing, fake beards and theatrical glue. This discovery, furthered by the presence of a beardless Zeke in the flashbacks, suggests that there may be a lot more to the others than what we've seen so far. Zeke mentions a possible leader among the others. Who is this leader? Is there a hierarchy among the others? How many of them are there? What positions of power exist in their community? What is the vaccination for? Is there actually a sickness? The others seem to be concerned about it. Why hasn't it affected the survivors yet? Best Moment: Eko and Henry's conversation is fascinating. After getting beaten up by Sayid, Henry looks suitably horrified when he sees the intimidating Eko enter the room. Eko is so fascinating to watch here and he does something surprising: he gives Henry a confession. Eko confesses his guilt for killing the two others back in "The Other 48 Days" because he needed to get it off his chest. It's a wonderful bit of character building for Eko, and the show expertly uses his mysterious and unpredictable nature to really surprise us and make us think that he's doing something much more sinister than what he actually does. Character of the Episode: Eko Conclusion: This episode advanced the plot nicely and had some good moments, but the poor character development for Claire and her annoying behaviour really drag this episode down. Score: 62 Summary: Monica gets frustrated when Chandler isn't able to smile properly for an engagement picture. Joey and Phoebe start dating a recently split up couple and argue on their behalves. Rachel enlists Joey to stop Tag from dating other girls.
The Good: Two of the three stories are good. Ross and Phoebe having arguments over the ex-couple they are dating is clever and ends up being a really funny storyline. Rachel's story is solid as she continually makes a fool of herself. Joey's role in the episode is quite good and he has a lot of funny moments like where he gets his new shirt dirty after eating a donut. The Bad: Unfortunately Chandler and Monica's storyline is beyond stupid. The idea that Chandler can't smile for a photo is utterly ridiculous. Maybe I would have bought into the idea if it was played subtly with clever jokes, but it is overacted and consists of the same dumb joke of Chandler making a weird face towards the camera. This must be one of the show's dumbest story ideas ever. Best Moment: Take your pick from Ross and Phoebe's many hysterical arguments. Character of the Episode: Joey. Conclusion: This is what you would expect from a post-season 5 "Friends" episode. There are two solid storylines with good laughs, but also a third one which is pretty dumb and drags things down. Score: 59 Summary: In flashbacks, the US military attacks where Sayid is working and want him to cooperate with them so they can find a pilot who was interrogated there. Sayid is used to get the information from his commanding officer, and Sayid is convinced to torture him to get the pilot's location. The pilot is already dead and the US military end up leaving Iraq. Sayid is released. On the island, Sayid finds Rousseau in the jungle. She takes him to a place where she has caught a man in a trap. The man claims to be named Henry Gale but Rousseau thinks he is an other. Sayid takes him back to the hatch and interrogates him. Locke changes the combination in the armory so that Jack can't stop Sayid. Jack convinces Locke to open the door when he prevents Locke from pushing the button. Sayid is convinced that Henry is an other and beats him up. Jack pulls him off. Sayid goes to Charlie and explains why he believed Henry is guilty. Sawyer enlists Hurley to help him find a tree frog.
The Good: The premise of this episode is fantastic. A mysterious person has been captured and it is the job of the survivors to determine if he is innocent or if he is an other. This is a fantastic way to create drama, and it leads into a lot of fascinating inter-character conflict and internal conflict towards the end of the episode. What makes this work so well is that it is unclear if Henry Gale is innocent or not. Since I can't predict the plot, I'm hooked the entire time by a drive to get answers. As a result of my total investment in this episode, the interrogation scenes end up being fantastic. I've always been a fan of Sayid's pragmatic approach so I loved seeing him go after Henry, trying to pry a lie out of anything he says. However, Henry seems solid and he has all the right answers. It's fascinating to follow Henry's actions as Sayid does, and it becomes clear what Sayid is looking for. Due to his experience as a torturer, Sayid knows that the way to get the truth is to search for a lack of emotion which would suggest that Henry is lying. Even though Henry has all of the right answers, the devil is in the details. It's apparent that Sayid believes that Henry's actions and emotions don't match up with what he is saying, and that is what makes Sayid believe he is guilty. But there's another angle to this: what if Sayid is wrong and is still too unstable following Shannon's death to make an unbiased decision? Sayid's questionable mental state still makes it unclear if Henry is telling the truth or not. This uncertainty keeps the drama, while Sayid's logical approach makes the interrogation satisfying. It's a brilliantly put together sequence. While all of this is happening, Jack and Locke further their conflict in an excellent way. Jack has always been bloodthirsty and demands revenge against the others. Even though Jack is emotionally driven and is always quick to grab the guns, he still has morals. We see that here as Jack doesn't wish to torture Henry Gale for fear that he's innocent. Evidently, he's still a little shaken from when Sayid tortured Sawyer back in "Confidence Man". Locke on the other hand, continues to behave in a more extreme manner following "Fire + Water", and he is willing to do what has to be done to ensure the safety of the survivors. It's an interesting change for the two of them, and it leads to some excellent conflict, particularly when Jack threatens to let the timer run out if Locke doesn't give him the combination (see: Best Moment). Sayid's flashbacks were very well done. The story was a joy to watch and it had a nice amount of depth to it. It's important for us to know how Sayid ended up as a torturer, and the story is quite compelling. It's sad to see the loyal soldier become a torturer due to his desire to do the right thing. The Bad: Unfortunately, the episode hurts itself badly in its final few minutes. Sayid goes to Charlie and explains why he believes Henry to be guilty. And the explanation is completely at odds with what we had just seen. Apparently Sayid believes Henry is an other because he doesn't feel any guilt when he beats him up. That seems like such a flimsy basis to make a decision off of, and it is completely at odds with the realism that I've come to expect from Sayid. It's a shame because this scene with Charlie could have been used to clarify the story of the episode but it only serves to confuse everything. It very nearly ruins a fantastic episode. This episode felt like it was padded with unnecessary filler outside of the scenes with Henry. The flashbacks are very good, but they are hardly essential for Sayid's character. The tree frog plotline in fine for comedy, but it is a complete waste of time. The change in Locke's character to make him more ruthless hasn't been conveyed well at all. It effects this episode too because Locke's decision to let Sayid torture Henry doesn't feel like something he would agree to. The Unknown: Who is Henry Gale? Is his story true? Or is he an other? It would have been nice if Sayid had been given more time to ask questions. Henry's wife apparently got sick and died. Is this the sickness that Rousseau was talking about? What were those hieroglyphs that appeared after the timer hit zero? Best Moment: As Sayid started punching Henry, the tension escalated dramatically and Jack went to the extreme to get inside the armory. His threats to Locke that he would let the timer run out were fantastic, and Jack looked almost deranged as he threatened Locke and got to exhibit some dominance over him. Then the tension ratchets up as we worry about both the timer and Sayid at the same time. It's brilliant stuff, and the scene concludes in wonderful fashion as we get a tantalizing hint about what happens when the button isn't pressed. Character of the Episode: Sayid. Conclusion: This was pretty great stuff for a lot of the episode, but a fair amount of little issues plagued this and prevent it from being one of the show's best episodes. But still, this is an excellent episode that I enjoyed very much. Score: 71 Summary: In flashbacks, Sawyer does a long con on a woman named Cassidy who has $600K. He falls in love with her and doesn't want to continue, but eventually he decides to do it anyways and he takes her money and leaves. On the island, Sun is attacked and everyone gets riled up in fear of attacks from the others. Kate and Sawyer suspect Ana Lucia is responsible and tried to scare everybody into joining the army. Sawyer warns Locke that Jack is coming to get the guns so Locke hides them. Locke and Jack get in a blowout, but Sawyer reveals that he tricked everyone and stole the guns. Kate is disgusted by Sawyer's actions and claims that he wants to be hated. Later he meets with Charlie, who was working with Sawyer and is the one who attacked Sun and followed Locke to the guns.
The Good: I love watching cons. I find stories that pay attention to details absolutely fascinating because they reward rewatches and include lots of lovely little details that are simply satisfying. As such, I loved the conning themes in this episode. It was really fun to see Sawyer execute two cons, one in flashbacks and one on the island. The way that everything slotted together by the end of the episode was lovely. This episode felt like it had much more focus and heart put into it than most episodes this season. The gun story is pretty well set up. I wish this episode was the direct follow up to "The Hunting Party" because a lot of the plot involves the fallout of the confrontation in the climax of that episode. The tension in the camp surrounding the others increased naturally, and as a result there was much more emphasis on the Jack/Locke conflict as they both approach the new threat completely differently. But enough about the plot. This episode is all about Sawyer, who has been given consistently great development. This season he has felt a little bit adrift (he's done nothing but flirt with Kate for the past few episodes) and there wasn't much character development surrounding him. That changed here as Sawyer does the most despicable thing he has done since season 1. We learn a lot about why Sawyer is the aggressive and vile man he is despite showing potential to be a better person. As Kate says at the end of the episode, Sawyer wants to be despised by everyone, because if he can be redeemed for his crimes, than so can the Mr. Sawyer who ruined his life. And for a man driven by his desire for revenge, confronting the possibility that Mr. Sawyer may actually be a decent man isn't possible. So Sawyer compensates by making himself hated by everyone, especially the ones he loves, who are Cassidy and Kate in this case. It's a wonderful bit of character exploration that shows us that Sawyer isn't a bad person at heart, but he wants to believe that he's a bad person. This also does a good job of explaining why Sawyer has been a mix of hateful and lovable throughout the series, as sometimes his true nature seeps out and he isn't able to be that hateful person he knows he must be. There were some pleasing moments of good writing in this episode. Sayid has been in the background for a while now, so the writers check in with him in a nice little side story to show him trying to move past his grief. I also liked the little touch of Sawyer losing his glasses on the raft and Kate having to read to him. Lastly, there was another random Easter Egg as Kate's mom appeared in Sawyer's flashback with Gordy. The Bad: The plot to build an army is a good idea but the execution here was pretty bad. The main issue is we see absolutely nothing of the community. The extras are hardly used in this episode and we aren't shown Ana Lucia and Jack actually doing anything. Everyone talks about making an army, but we never see anybody actually making the army. It's a classic case of the writers failing to abide the "show don't tell" rule, and that hurts the episode. There's too much exposition here which could've been replaced with us actually seeing how the camp feels about training an army. Charlie's story arc isn't working at all. He's become such a cartoony evil now, and couple that with his comical hood and we might as well call him "Darth Charlie". He's an utter prick in this episode as he is motivated purely by hate and anger, working only to hurt others instead of benefiting himself. His attack on Sun is quite shocking and it's really hard to buy into Charlie stooping so low as to do that. The Unknown: What does Sawyer plan to do now that he has all of the guns? Where is he hiding them anyways? Hurley makes a curious comment regarding the music transmission that Sayid picked up. He notes that the transmission could be from "any time". Could being unstuck in time or something like that possibly explain how this island has never been found before? Best Moment: Sawyer's speech declaring he's in charge again was very well done. Character of the Episode: Sawyer. Conclusion: This was a really fun episode that gave us more strong development for Sawyer. Score: 70 Summary: Mando meets with an old friend Ran for work. Mando uses his ship and joins Mayfeld, Burg, Zero and Xi'an to go rescue Qin, Xi'an's brother who has been arrested. The team get into the spaceship, and after fighting security droids, they make it to the control panel where a soldier calls for the New Republic before he is killed. Now on a time limit, the group go free Qin, but the group betrays Mando and leaves him to die. Mando escapes and defeats each member of the crew before leaving with Qin and returning to Ran. Mando collects his pay. Ran prepares to kill Mando as he flies away but it's revealed that Mando put the tracking beacon on Qin, allowing the New Republic to arrive and blow up Ran's shuttle.
The Good: This was a very fun concept for an episode. Having Mando interact with a crew working for a man he was formerly partnered with was pretty interesting. There was a lot of tension throughout the episode and I was always on edge, expecting the crew to turn on Mando at any given moment. It was never a matter of if, only when they would betray him, and that gave the episode more tension than it otherwise would have had. Furthermore, the dynamic between Mando and the crew allowed for some neat moral exploration, most notably when the group encounters the soldier who threatens to call for backup. What really made this work was how different it felt from everything that came before. I'm really enjoying how "The Mandalorian" is paying homage to tons of different genres, taking tropes from various different genres in each episode. Before this, there were references to westerns, monster movies and war movies, and now we get an episode dedicated to heist movies and thriller/horror movies. It was a wonderful change of tone, and it adds a degree more excitement for each episode when we don't know what kind of story to expect. This episode really nailed the heist and horror aspects. The first half of the episode was an exciting heist as the crew breaks into the ship and there is a wonderfully choreographed fight scene between Mando and the security droids. But when the crew turns on Mando, the tone turns ominous and we get a wonderful parody of a horror movie as Mando hunts down each crew member one after the other. The sequence is brilliantly executed, and manages to include just about every trope possible, making it both tense and funny, which was very impressive. I also liked the parallel with Baby Yoda hiding from Zero in Mando's ship, showing us a much goofier type of thriller. The Bad: Nothing outwardly bad. I'm still a little disappointed that the show has gone for a more procedural style of storytelling, but I'm alright with it as long as the episodes are as well done as this one. The Unknown: Where is Mando going next? What kind of episode are we getting next? Best Moment: The end of the episode was really well done. Mando escapes with Ran's money, and after what happened with Toro in the last episode, and the crew in this one, he is anticipating a betrayal. So in a master stroke, he sneakily leads the New Republic to Ran's shuttle and get shim killed without any trouble. It's a wonderfully satisfying moment as Qin and Ran get outsmarted, made better by the return of X-Wings, which will please any "Star Wars" fan. Character of the Episode: Mando. Conclusion: This was really strong stuff. While there isn't much of importance for the plot or characters, this was just fun. What this episode lacked in meaning, it made up for with pure entertainment value. I would be fine with more episodes like this. Score: 65 Summary: Flashbacks show that Liam was intoxicated during the birth of his daughter and was later kicked out for dropping his daughter. He returns to Charlie and secretly sells his piano in order to repair his own life. On the island, Charlie has frequent dreams about needing to save Aaron and starts acting irrationally. Charlie goes to Eko who says Aaron must be baptized. Locke follows him to his secret stash and takes it away from him. Soon after, Charlie decides to baptize Aaron himself and lights a fire to distract everyone while he does it. Claire notices and everyone stops Charlie. Locke punches him.
The Good: The Hurley and Libby story is decent for a B-story. There are a couple of decent laughs, and this new relationship does serve to get us to know Libby a little better, which is welcome. With better execution, there's a good story here for Locke. Freeing Charlie from addiction was one of his first successes on the island, so it should be easy to see why he would be so frustrated with Charlie seemingly returning to drug use. The Bad: Unfortunately that's all I have for the good. This episode was all-around terrible. One of this show's best strengths is its ability to make me sympathize with just about everyone. So it's quite a big shock when an episode like this one comes around in which almost every character is completely unsympathetic and I find myself detached from everyone's emotions. Charlie gets it the worst. He's not using drugs, but he may as well be with how irrationally he behaves all the time. He's a liar whose motivation and behaviour is so suspicious, and we're never given an adequate explanation for why he is acting like this. Claire on the other hand, is just an outright bitch for most of this episode and somehow I can't even sympathize with her fear of Charlie. Locke behaves completely out of character throughout this episode. For whatever reason he seems to have abandoned his faith to take care of Claire, and all of his actions are wildly different from the character that I remember from season 1. Lastly there's Eko who is frustratingly vague and unhelpful throughout the episode. The sloppy character writing leads into a plot that makes no sense and is simply frustrating to watch unfold. Just like in "Everybody Hates Hugo", this episode opens up with a strange dream sequence. I don't know why these sequences keep coming up when they seemingly aren't even relevant to the story. It diminishes the impact of dreams when they aren't used to advance the plot like they did back in "Deus Ex Machina". Anyways, these dreams provide a forced catalyst to make Charlie behave irrationally through a lot of stupid moments. The sleepwalking scene was poorly done. It seemed an innocent mistake and should have gone down as a big misunderstanding. It wasn't Charlie's fault, yet people inexplicably treat it like it was his fault, including Claire who goes to the extreme and slaps him for no real reason. It's really frustrating stuff, yet it's nothing compared to what came afterwards. Charlie decides that the best course of action is to light a fire that could destroy the camp so he could secretly baptize Aaron. In what world is this a good idea? Why would he do this? This is actually worse than Hurley's decision to bring dynamite into the hatch. The plan is stupid, and it's hard to believe that somebody who is sober would behave like this. Then we have Locke, a pretty peaceful guy normally, punching Charlie hard for his actions. This has to be one of the most out-of-character actions that anyone has taken in this show. I could maybe understand if Locke had been pushed to this point, but he really wasn't. He seems frustrated, but we aren't given a chance to explore why he feels this way. Is he disappointed in the island? In Charlie? Why? How does it make him feel? None of this is explored whatsoever, and that makes analyzing Locke's behaviour feel like guesswork instead of character analysis. On top of all of this nonsense, Charlie's character arc is completely useless. There is no meaningful story being told about him. It's just rehashes of what we already knew from season 1. Charlie has struggles with addiction (The Moth), and he has a desire to save others (Homecoming). Is there anything in this episode that we couldn't have figured out about Charlie from the aforementioned episodes? The flashbacks also fall into being useless filler. Once again Liam screwed Charlie over by selling his piano for his own selfish gains. We have already seen Liam screw Charlie over before, so what's the point of showing us the same story again? It's a completely empty storyline. Also I really could have gone without seeing that stupid diaper commercial being filmed. The Unknown: Will Charlie's dreams be relevant? I doubt it. Does Hurley actually know Libby from somewhere else? Why is Eko marking trees? Best Moment: It's really, really hard to find a good moment. I'll go with Hurley and Libby talking in the hatch. Character of the Episode: Hurley. Conclusion: This was bad. Just when I thought that "Lost" was finding its footing again, we get this. This season has to be the most inconsistent season of television I've ever seen. There have been some genuine high points, but the good gets soiled when we got awful episodes like this one. Something really needs to change because episodes like this are just unacceptable for a show of Lost's caliber. Score: 32 Summary: In flashbacks, Jack is approached by a woman named Gabriela who wants him to do an impossible surgery on her father to save his life. Jack does it but is unable to save his life. He ends up kissing Gabriela. He returns home to Sarah who he hasn't been spending much time with. Sarah reveals she is going to leave him. In the present, Michael locks Jack and Locke in the armory and leaves to go after Walt. Kate and Sawyer free them, and they all go after Michael. Jack orders Kate to stay behind. Jack, Locke and Sawyer follow Michael's trail and they hear gunshots. After giving chase they encounter Zeke who has come with a force of others hidden int he jungle. Zeke gets them to surrender their weapons when he reveals that he has Kate and plans to kill her. He lets them know that they don't have freedom of the island. The group returns to the camp unsuccessful. Jack goes to Ana Lucia with a plan to train an army.
The Good: It looks like "Lost" is finally picking up steam again. The island story in this one was superb. From the first minute it was intense, important and exciting. The hook of Michael leaving to go after Walt works tremendously well, and the ensuing mission to go after him creates some organic conflict and character exploration. This all builds up to an outstanding confrontation with the returning Zeke. The others have never been so mysterious and threatening as in this scene, making this a huge escalation in the conflict between the survivors and the others. Zeke was wonderfully charismatic in the role, making it clear that the others hold a real power in the jungle, one that the survivors, even with their guns, cannot hope to match. The flashbacks told a very good story too. Across the entire run of the show we have learned a lot about the good-hearted, yet immensely flawed character that is Jack. But there were still some holes in his story that needed to be filled, most importantly, the reason that his marriage with Sarah failed. We got a wonderful story encapsulating why Jack was unable to keep his marriage, and it fits perfectly with the character that we have come to know. As Sarah says herself, Jack is always obsessing over something and trying to fix something. He's never just being himself, he's always out to prove himself to his father, to get that little bit of acceptance that he desires so much. And here, Jack completely blows up his life with his own need to validate his actions. He gets more involved with Gabriela than he should, he takes his failure to save the old man's life too personally, and he consistently ignores Sarah throughout all of this. By the time Jack tries to set things right, it's too late. And what's worse is that it's nearly impossible to believe that Jack would have been able to save his marriage even if he did try -- once he knew that they were on stable ground, he would just focus on something else in a fruitless attempt to gain his father's approval. Jack's story on the island ties into this flashback story very nicely. He's angry, stubborn, overly emotional and unreasonable pretty much the entire time. Just like in the flashbacks, Jack's drive is that he desperately wants to fix something. In this case, he's desperate to bring Michael back to the camp. The connection between stories works very well, and Matthew Fox does a tremendous job conveying Jack's emotions, as always. Additionally, I really liked the parallel between this episode and "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues". Both of those episodes showcase Jack's negative side as he recklessly goes after somebody through the jungle, but impressively enough, both episodes tell very different stories about Jack. I liked the brief Sun/Jin side story. I really like that this story stemmed from Michael's departure, just like the main storyline, giving the episode some focus. As for the story itself, it was a good way to examine Sun and Jin's relationship a little more without detracting from the central plot of the episode. The Bad: The played up love triangle stuff isn't doing much for me. There are so many melodramatic moments, like Jack accusing Sawyer of loving Kate and then later not accepting Kate's apology. It's too cheesy to be compelling television. Yet again, Kate completely fails as a hardened criminal as she gets captured. That aspect of her character has been poorly demonstrated since the beginning of the show. The Unknown: What happened to Michael? Did the others get him? What were those gunshots? Zeke called for somebody named Alex to bring Kate out. Is this Rousseau's daughter? How do Jack and Ana Lucia plan to train an army? Best Moment: The confrontation with Zeke was awesome television. This is the most urgent and intense this season has been outside of episodes 1, 3 and 7. Zeke was a frightening presence even when alone, and it was great to see his charisma going up against Jack's stubbornness early on. But then Zeke turns the tables in a splendid way. The "light em up" moment was genuinely chilling, and it shifted the tone of the scene suddenly and effectively. After that, Jack was never in control of the conversation and Zeke used both intimidation and power to wrestle him into defeat in such a fantastic, villainous way. This was great stuff. Character of the Episode: Jack, though I'll give an honourable mention to Zeke. Conclusion: This episode delivered. The island plot was epic, and the character exploration for Jack was very well done. It looks like the show is finally starting to pick things up. Score: 76 Summary: Flashbacks reveal that Eko was a war lord in Nigeria. He goes to his brother Yemi, a priest, to transport drugs out of the country via plane. Yemi initially refuses but Eko threatens him to get him to do it. Yemi calls the military and ends up being shot in the chaos and sent out on the plane in place of Eko. On the island, Claire tells Eko about Charlie's Virgin Mary statue. Eko is aware of what it is and goes to find Charlie, demanding that he take him to the plane. Claire is angry when she learns that heroin is in the statue. On the way to the plane, Eko and Charlie encounter the smoke monster. Once at the plane, which si the same plane from the flashbacks, Eko mourns over Yemi's body.
The Good: Eko's first episode delivered the goods. His past is every bit as dark and fascinating as I had hoped it would be. The story of Eko being a war lord in Nigeria is a big surprise, and the man we see in the past is the stark opposite of the religious man on the island. It's a surprising twist that makes Eko's story immediately gripping and exciting to follow. The story we are told in flashbacks is actually very good. The brotherly relationship between Eko and Yemi is nicely explored, and we are shown that they do care quite deeply for each other despite their differing morality. The background we get on Yemi is effective, and it's enough to make Eko finding his skeleton in the plane a harrowing moment (see: Best Moment). Furthermore, we get the bonus of learning the history of the plane in the jungle, solving one of the show's bigger mysteries from season 1. The island story was refreshing in how it reverted to season 1's style of storytelling. One of the things that season 2 hasn't done very well is creating a dramatic and exciting story on the island. With the return of a mission through the jungle filled with tension and conflict, the show regains some of its ability to create compelling drama. The conflict came from the start of a unique new relationship between Eko and Charlie, while the drama came from the unexpected presence of the smoke monster, which was an excellent addition to the episode. The scene where Eko stared down the smoke monster was intense and fascinating, raising several questions about the monster (see: The Unknown). It was nice to get some advancement in Charlie's character arc. He had been carrying the Virgin Mary statue for a while now with nothing much of substance happening. It's past time that he gets some focus. Eko is the perfect person to bring the focus onto Charlie as he stumbles around, desperately making excuses to make himself look better. Of course Charlie isn't using, but he did make a mistake by not telling Claire about the statues, and now it seems his new character arc will be about owning up to his decisions, and even though he hasn't been using, he needs to accept that he has to win back the trust of the people around him, including Claire, Locke and Eko. This is excellent set-up for that storyline in a Charlie-centric episode down the road. The Bad: Why didn't Charlie tell people about the monster? It's the same issue from "Exodus", only this is even more unbelievable because this is the same Charlie who was gossiping in the last episode. Would he really keep his mouth shut like this? He should be freaking out! Instead he's calm as can be for the rest of the episode, which is completely implausible. The same goes for Eko. Stoic or not, Eko should have had a more pronounced reaction when he was confronted by the supernatural. Claire's unnecessarily rude to Charlie here. Sure he lied to her, but he doesn't deserve this treatment from her. It's highly unbelievable that she wouldn't care to help Charlie recover from his addiction, especially seeing how kind Charlie has been to her, and how he went to save Aaron back in "Exodus". Claire's behaviour here isn't consistent with that. This episode doesn't quite hit that level of excitement or emotion to get it close to an 80. Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent episode, but it doesn't ever threaten to go above and beyond that. The Unknown: How did Eko transition from a war lord to a priest? Why didn't the smoke monster kill Eko? What was it doing to Eko? If you pause when the camera moves through the monster, there are flashes of Eko's past visible. What does that mean? Is the smoke monster reading his memories? How can it do that? Why would it do that? Is this what it did to Locke back in "Walkabout"? Why didn't it do the same thing to the pilot in the first episode? What did "Walt" communicate to Michael? Where is he? Will Michael try to go after him? Will somebody find Charlie's stash of statues? Will Charlie be able to free himself from the clutches of heroin before it backfires on him in a big way? Best Moment: Eko enters the plane and discovers that one of the bodies inside is Yemi. In a rather unsettling scene, Eko hugs this decayed body and cries over the loss of his brother. It's a very sad moment that provides the catharsis for the flashback story. Character of the Episode: Eko. Conclusion: This was great stuff. The island story and flashback stories both hooked me immediately and told a compelling story. This was one of the better episodes of the season for sure. Score: 73 Summary: In flashbacks, Kate kills her step-father Wayne, who abused her mother. Kate lets her mom know what she did before she leaves. But her mother turns her in and Kate is apprehended. After a car accident, Kate escapes and goes to her father, confessing that she killed Wayne when she learned that he was actually her biological father. In the present, Kate watches over Sawyer as Jack attends Shannon's funeral. Sawyer becomes momentarily possessed by Wayne so Kate runs away, panicked and thinking she's crazy. She runs into Jack who comforts her and they end up kissing. Later, Kate returns to Sawyer and confesses why she killed Wayne. Sawyer wakes up. Meanwhile, Locke shows Eko and Michael the orientation video. Eko reveals that he found some cut parts of the film in a book on the other side of the island. Locke and Eko watch the unedited video, which claims that communication with the computer is forbidden. Michael is contacted on the computer by somebody claiming to be Walt.
The Good: It took a very long time, but we finally got a Kate-centric episode that's willing to explore her character instead of just painstakingly raising more and more questions about her backstory. We get plenty of answers here, as we find out what Kate's crime was, why her childhood was troubled, and presumably why her mother was so afraid of her back in "Born to Run". It's nice to see the show finally giving us the emotional story that Kate deserved to have gotten back in season 1. Kate's character development in this episode is pretty well done. It's wildly different from everyone else because we get to see how utterly selfish Kate is. Sure Wayne was a bad person, but Kate only killed him for herself, not anybody else. All of her motives are selfish, and this carries into her island story too. Kate selfishly abandons Sawyer when she becomes a little spooked, and she even kisses Jack for no reason other than to make herself feel better. The lack of follow-up between them actually works in this case, because the kiss wasn't due to love, just Kate's own selfish desires. I also like that we got to explore why Kate was attracted to both Sawyer and Jack. By all rights, Kate should be with Sawyer - they have far better chemistry - but Kate is constantly reminded of Wayne when she is with Sawyer, which makes her feel like she should be with the heroic, perfect, Jack. Eko was terrific once again. He has a wonderfully mysterious aura that makes all of his scenes gripping, plus a natural charisma. His speech about Josiah wasn't entirely necessary, but it was fascinating to listen to as Eko patiently got to the point. All of his interactions with Locke were simply spectacular, and it was wonderful to see some focus put back onto the hatch. The other stuff in the episode was also fairly well done. I liked Charlie gossiping to Kate about all of the new people. Sayid's state of depression was well acted, and a natural follow-up to Shannon's death. I laughed at Hurley's comment about Bernard being white, and also at Sawyer thinking they were rescued after waking up in a bunk bed. The Bad: Something about this episode didn't click the way it should have. I was entertained throughout, but I didn't find myself connecting to very much of the episode, which isn't a problem I've usually had with "Lost". Perhaps this had something to do with the character of Kate, which was a problem once again. Most of the problems surrounding Kate had to do with her emotions. I never felt like I was sympathizing with her the way I should have been. Her selfish reasons for killing her father do make her character stand out, but it does make it far tougher to sympathize with her. This disconnect between me and Kate led to me not enjoying this character exploration as much as I should have. On the island, Kate goes through a brief arc where she thinks she's going crazy. The problem with this is that the storyline is rushed and not very satisfying. Jack went through this same story in a much more satisfying way back in "White Rabbit". The emotional beats of this story just felt hollow, and I think the writers didn't commit enough to the story to make it memorable, or even plausible. It also doesn't help that Wayne possessing Sawyer felt like a lazy plot device to illustrate Kate's conflicting feelings about him, rather than a compelling reason for Kate to believe she is crazy. I was a bit disappointed by Jack and Ana Lucia's conversation. They didn't really give us anything new in their conversation, and there was no development whatsoever for either character. The Unknown: What's with the horse? Where did it come from? Is it the same horse from the flashbacks? What is the significance of this horse? What does it symbolize? How could Sawyer possibly have been possessed by Wayne? This might end up being explained, but I highly doubt it. Why are there blast doors in the hatch? Does it have something to do with the incident? Very interesting ending. Who is talking to Michael? Is it actually Walt or is it just one of the others posing as Walt? Where is this communication coming from? Best Moment: Eko's speech was quite fascinating, and the interactions between him and Locke were a joy. Character of the Episode: Kate, though Eko came close to passing her. Conclusion: This was another solid episode that was missing a few things from being great. This season has been very strange so far. Its had the two best episodes of the series so far, but also the two worst. And everything in between has been simply average as the show has been unable to replicate the spark the made season 1 so compelling. I really hope that the show can find its footing again, because while this is fine television, there is potential for so much more. Score: 63 Summary: Flashbacks reveal that Ana was a cop. She was shot on the job while pregnant, killing her unborn child. Her attacker is caught and Ana ensures he is freed so that she can kill him herself. In the present, Ana knocks Sayid out when he attacks her and ties him to a tree. She threatens everybody as she tries to assess the situation. Eko leaves and takes Sawyer to Jack and Kate to save his life. He passes the news of Shannon's death but refuses to take the angry Jack to where Ana Lucia is. Michael gets Ana Lucia to let him leave, and the others leave soon after. Michael goes to Jack and offers to lead him to Ana Lucia. Eko convinces them to go without guns. Ana eventually decides to let Sayid go after pondering things over and speaking with him. Jack arrives and reunites with Ana Lucia. At the beach, Rose and Bernard are reunited, as are Jin and Sun.
The Good: Ana's story here is quite good. In the previous episode we took a look at her island persona, but this episode dives deeper into her background, giving us insight into her aggressive and commanding behaviour on the island. Her history as a cop is a natural solution to her behaviour, and it's quite nice to see a few little details touched up on. We've learned why Ana wasn't too fazed by murdering Goodwin (she's killed before), why Ana was so determined to help the kids (she's lost a child), and why Ana was able to shut off her emotions and adapt an extremely pragmatic leadership style (she's a police officer). This episode did a good job of putting Ana Lucia's behaviour under examination, while giving her a nice flashback storyline which culminates in a very good twist. On the other hand, the island story is also pretty well done. The situation she's in forces Ana Lucia to act quickly and forcefully in order to remain in control. Her aggressive behaviour here will likely put some people off, but I thought it was an effective and realistic way for a cop to deal with guilt. While in an intense conflict with herself, Ana Lucia immediately acts to maintain control, fearful of her friends no longer trusting her, and equally fearful of people criticizing what she had just done. It was pretty relatable, and I could sympathize with her as she gave out needlessly aggressive orders while simultaneously isolating herself from everyone. It was sad to see her overreact in such a big way, but it was consistent with the character we get to know in the flashbacks. The climactic conversation with Sayid ended up being pretty good as Ana told him her story before letting him go, finally ready to face the consequences of what she has done. Eko had a great episode as well. He gets to act as the moral compass of the group, making decisions that he feels are best for everyone. Just about every scene with him was really good, and Eko's pacifistic nature really got to shine here. The highlight scenes were Eko refusing to lead Jack to Ana Lucia, and him demanding that Jack leave the guns behind so as to not create more unnecessary conflict. The ending reunions led to some pretty good moments. It was great seeing Jack deal with yet another miracle as he is brought face to face with Ana Lucia, another ghost from his past (though a much more recent past than Desmond). The two romantic reunions between Rose/Bernard and Jin/Sun were both quite good, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't smile while watching them. The Bad: The Kate/Jack story didn't work for me. The golfing part of the episode just screamed filler, as the writers could certainly have reminded us of their relationship in a more important storyline. I also wasn't very happy with the scenes dedicated to saving Sawyer. After how gripping Jack's attempts to save Boone were in "Do No Harm", it feels quite disappointing that the episode didn't even try to turn Sawyer's deteriorating condition into something genuinely threatening. Instead all of the focus was on setting up a Jack/Kate/Sawyer love triangle, which does not interest me at all. Love triangles typically result in pretty poor storytelling, so I hope this show stays well away from that trope. While I liked parts of the ending montage, I didn't like the entire thing. I was very disappointed that there were no questions asked about Michael and Jin's sudden return with a couple of unfamiliar faces. Why wasn't anybody upset about their chances of rescue becoming practically zero? Why wasn't anybody asking about where Sawyer and Walt were? Why wasn't anybody inquiring about these two new people and the mysterious others? There should have been more panic and fear catalyzed by Michael and Jin's return, but the show instead only shows us everyone happily reuniting and chatting. It's awkward not to address the elephant in the room, and it damages the emotion of those final scenes. As always, I had a couple of nitpicks. It seems irresponsible for Kate, Charlie and Hurley to be golfing so close to the camp where they could easily injure somebody with an unlucky swing. It seems odd that Jason would be deemed innocent just because Ana Lucia didn't identify him. Surely Jason's confession should be enough to take the case to trial. The Unknown: What will Jack and Ana Lucia's interactions be like? How will the relationship they had developed in "Exodus" be altered by the events of the island? Best Moment: Ana and Sayid's conversation at the end of the episode was very good stuff. Character of the Episode: Ana Lucia. Conclusion: This was a pretty good episode. While not on the level of some of the show's best episodes, this still told a good character story while bringing us to the big reunion of camps that was expected. Score: 66 Summary: Mando's ship is damaged in a space fight with another bounty hunter so he lands on Tatooine to get it fixed. Short on money, Mando helps out Toro, a fellow bounty hunter trying to get accepted into the guild. Mando and Toro hunt down Fennec, a mercenary hiding out in the desert. They capture her and Mando leaves to organize transport. Toro realizes that Mando is wanted by the guild and kills Fennec, with the intent of turning Mando in instead. Toro threatens Baby Yoda but Mando is able to kill him. Mando and Yoda leave Tatooine. A mysterious person approached Fennec's dead body.
The Good: The opening scene was a fun way to start the episode. It's not "Star Wars" without an exciting spaceship battle at some point. The scene was well shot, and it was an impressive scene to include in a TV show. It was nice to see Tatooine again, and there were some nice callbacks with Mos Eisley, the Tusken Raiders and the two suns. The desert setting worked well for the main story as well. I was interested by Toro's mission to get Fennec, and I thought the story built up well and had a logical, yet entertaining climax. Fennec and Toro were solid one-off characters and I ended up enjoying this storyline much more than the village story. Although it is worth mentioning that this story was much more original and that likely played a part in me enjoying it a lot more. I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I really love this show's music. It's so unorthodox, yet the style somehow blends perfectly with the "Star Wars" universe. I also appreciate that we are getting a minimum of one new track for each episode. I find myself constantly looking forward to whatever new music I'll hear while watching this show. The Bad: While it was fun to see Tatooine again, I'm also quite disappointed by the planet's return. Part of the allure of this show is that it could present "Star Wars" in a way that's wholly unconnected to the main series, giving us potential to explore new corners of the galaxies. Yet in just 5 episodes we're already looking backwards and returning to the same old planet that we have been accustomed to for years and years. It wasn't outwardly bad seeing Tatooine again, but it didn't capture my imagination like a brand new planet would have, and because of that I find the decision to go back to Tatooine quite perplexing. Hopefully we can head somewhere new in the next episode. The fanservice didn't really work for me either. I'm fine with subtle moments of fanservice as well as some well-placed Easter Eggs, but this was too much. Tatooine was pretty much thrown into our face, and disappointingly, I don't even think the show was able to accurately present the planet to us. Mos Eisley felt dead, and the cantina was a far cry from the lively, intimidating and fascinating location we were introduced to back in "A New Hope". I understand that this is all likely due to budget constraints, but if you can't recreate Mos Eisley in all of its glory, then why bother? This episode still felt a lot like a filler episode. I'm not opposed to these one-off plots, and I think they do work decently well in shows like "Person of Interest". But in a season with only 8 episodes, it's downright criminal to waste 2 entire episodes on slow-moving filler plots that don't necessarily need to be included. The Unknown: Who was that person at the end that fond Fennec's body? Was there a reason other than budget for the cantina being so empty? Is there some significance to this? Best Moment: Fennec negotiating with Toro was a great scene. It built tension in an organic way, while also being one of the few moments in the episode where I wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen next. Character of the Episode: Toro. His short arc was a pretty fun one. Also I can't keep putting Mando here every week. Conclusion: This was a fine episode that was a breeze to watch. But I do feel that there should be more plot movement, and that "Star Wars" should really be focusing on treading new ground instead of drudging up the past. Score: 56 Summary: Mando lands on a quiet planet to lay low for a while. He swiftly comes to blows with Cara Dune, an ex-imperial shocktrooper who is also hiding on the planet. Mando decides to leave the planet upon Cara's request so that they both won't draw attention to themselves. Some villagers come to Mando asking him to help their village which is being attacked. Mando and Cara go to the village to help and they work together with the villagers to fight off a horde of bandits, destroying an AT-ST in the process. Mando is offered to stay at the village, but he decides to leave when a bounty hunter tries to kill Baby Yoda.
The Good: The production of the show remains wonderful. The visuals in this episode were stunning, ranging from the outstanding village set to the frightening red eyes of the AT-ST. The entire episode was put together very well. The show also continues to pay homage to Westerns in a unique way, and there was even a nod to Jurassic Park in this episode with the AT-ST which I appreciated. The examination of Mando remains interesting to me. Here we learn why the Mandolorians don't take off their helmets in front of others, and it was a good question to answer as there was a certain disbelief to the idea that Mando never removes his helmet. I also thought it was a good idea to explore why Mando refuses to stay in one place for a long time, and the story of him grappling with the idea of staying at the village is a good one. The Bad: This episode didn't work. This show as a whole works so well because of how it blends live action drama with animated TV shows. This episode simply felt like a 40 minute animated TV show episode in a lot of ways, and that completely destroyed the balance between live action and animated. In the end, this felt less like "The Mandalorian" and more like a live action version of "The Clone Wars". Now I do enjoy some episodes of "The Clone Wars", but my least favourite episodes were often the ones which had generic, predictable plots which I was never given much reason to invest in. I understand that Jon Favreau is a fan of "The Clone Wars" and wanted to reference that show's style of storytelling in this episode, but I feel like there is a better way to reference "Clone Wars" without having an episode that falls into the same trappings. I found it difficult to get invested in the villagers. They were very simplistic and 1-dimensional, like they were designed specifically so kids could like them. That's an issue because these characters seem designed specifically for kids. The best characters in family friendly shows can appeal to both kids and adults. Just look at the success of a character like Han Solo and the failure of a character like Jar Jar Binks as an example of this. In this case, the show missed the mark and ended up creating characters that felt silly. The biggest misfire was the mother who immediately took a liking for Mando. We don't know why she likes Mando, we are given no reason for her to like him, and we are given no reason to care for their relationship. That's an issue, especially considering how important this relationship was for this episode. The action sequence at the end of the episode was okay, but there was never any tension. It's a shame that the fantastic visual of the AT-ST was wasted in a subplot where the main characters were never in any danger. Now if the AT-ST appears again in a scene that tries to be suspenseful, it won't feel as special. The action sequence never got me to the edge of my seat, and it was crystal clear that nobody would die and that the bandits would be easily defeated. I had dozens of nitpicks for the plot of this episode, but I won't bother to list them here. I'm pretty sure that most readers will know what I'm talking about even without me listing some examples. The problem with making an episode that is designed to appeal to kids is that there are almost always going to be plot holes and questionable character decisions that break your immersion, and most people who watch the show will notice them. That is another factor that worked against this episode. This episode also had the underlying feeling of being filler. Nothing significant happened here outside of Cara's introduction, and this feels like a waste of an episode in an 8-episode season. It's also quite disappointing that this uninteresting plot was somehow the longest episode of the series so far. The Unknown: Cara Dune is an interesting new character and I really hope that there is more depth to her than what we have seen so far. Her imperial background could be a good set-up for some backstory for her, which would be very good. As it stands right now, her character seems like the generic "strong female type" that Disney likes to include nowadays in order to avoid controversy. I've put her introduction in The Unknown because I'm not sure if I'll look back and like her inclusion in the story or dislike it, as my feelings for her are quite mixed. Where will Mando go next? Will the bounty hunters keep following him? What happens with Cara? Will she go with him? Or will she stay on this planet? Best Moment: I'll go with the reveal of the AT-ST. Such a brilliant visual. Character of the Episode: Mando. Conclusion: This was disappointing. With Mando free to go anywhere in the galaxy following the last episode, I was expecting to get something new. To retread old ground that "The Clone Wars" had already visited was a poor choice, even if it was made with the intent of honouring a TV show that the showrunner enjoys very much. Hopefully this episode was just a bump in the road and we can get to better content in episode 5. Score: 49 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|