Summary: Flashbacks reveal that Charlie is a heroin addict and Kate was a prisoner in custody of the US Marshall. In the present, Jack, Kate and Charlie return with the transceiver. Sayid is able to fix it up after a brief altercation with Sawyer. Walt discovers handcuffs while looking for Vincent. After working, Sayid determines that he needs to make a trek higher up the mountain to get signal to make a transmission. Kate, Charlie, Sawyer, Boone and Shannon join in. Jack works to save the Marshall's life so he stays behind. On the trek, the group encounters a polar bear that Sawyer kills with a gun. Kate takes the gun from him. Sayid eventually gets connection but the group end up finding a transmission that was already broadcasting. The transmission is from a French woman and it has been playing for 16 years.
The Good: After an exhilarating first episode, the pace slows down considerably in this episode. It's not a bad thing since the pace inevitably had to slow at some point, but I'm more impressed by the amount of tricks the writers used to disguise this slower pace. While the first episode threw us into an intense situation, this episode built on the story with lots of mystery and some well-executed plot twists that were spread throughout the episode so that there was always something interesting happening every 5 minutes or so. This helped blend the slower moments into the episode and it allowed the episode to maintain a more exciting flow. Throughout the excitement, this episode was just as sublime as "Pilot Part 1" when it came to introducing characters. This episode smartly introduced another trek which allowed us to get to spend some more time with the side characters. Sawyer and Sayid were the focal point of this episode as they come into an exciting conflict early in the episode, before they both end up influencing the plot in big ways (Sayid fixing the transceiver, Sawyer unveiling the gun), developing their characters at the same time. But we also got tons of time with other characters. We get to see the relationship between the Korean couple, we get to see Hurley's soft-hearted and comedic nature in two memorable scenes with Sayid and Jack, we get to see Michael and Walt's poor relationship, and even an exploration of Shannon and Boone's characters. This episode did so many small things to develop its characters, and it is really impressive. Despite the focus not really being on them, we still learned a lot of new information about Kate and Charlie during the episode's two flashbacks which provided some really clever twists that changed how I felt about these two characters. Charlie has been the comic relief throughout these two episodes, but it turns out that he is a heroin addict, which makes him a more gray character. The same goes for Kate who is revealed to be the prisoner, opening up the possibilities for what kind of person Kate really is. These twists land perfectly and they make me much more interested to learn more about Charlie and Kate. The trek provided some great drama to go with this excellent characterization. There is a lot of added mystery with the mysterious polar bears and the shocking 16 years reveal at the end of the episode (see: Best Moment). Both of these moments landed in scenes which were packed with tension and character details, which only served to add to my enjoyment of the episode. Lastly, the humour has been damn good so far. I've laughed at nearly every joke, and the characters have been pleasingly consistent with their styles of humour. Sawyer is sarcastic, obnoxious and witty, Charlie is over-the-top and silly (which also fits in with his drug addiction as he is high when he says a lot of his funny lines), and Hurley is awkward and relatable. These three provide majority of the jokes throughout the episode, and I found myself laughing more in this episode than in some episodes of dedicated sitcoms. The Bad: Did we really need to get that fanservicey shot of Kate washing up in the ocean? The cast is attractive, no need to show it off to us. It's a small nitpick, but how did Charlie end up with the fuselage survivors? The bathroom was in the very front of the plane and he scrambled to the first open seat he found in the flashback. So how did he somehow teleport to the center of the plane? The Unknown: What happens when Charlie inevitably runs out of heroin? Will the Marshall survive or is he a goner? I don't imagine his chances are very good. What was on the letter that Sawyer was reading? What is the secret that Locke tells Walt? What's with the polar bear? How did it get to live on a tropical island? Do the polar bears have something to do with the monster? Why was Kate arrested? What did she do? Is she a threat? In the flashback the Marshall refers to her having a cover story. Is she actually responsible or is she just framed? Also, what was the favour that Kate wanted of him? Who is this French woman? Is she really still on the island? Why didn't anybody rescue her across 16 years? As Charlie said, where are they? Also, what was it that killed the other people she was with? Was it the monster? Best Moment: That final sequence is oustanding. It's really impressive that the show managed to get so much drama and tension out of 6 characters crowding around a transceiver to listen to a message. Each character had a distinct purpose to the scene and they all added to the conversation, be it interpreting the message (Shannon), stirring up conflict (Sawyer), providing comic relief (Charlie), doing the math (Sayid), keeping things in control (Kate), or encouraging Shannon (Boone). Every character stood out and added tons of suspense. The end of the scene when the message is revealed to have been broadcasting for 16 years ends up being a chilling way to relieve the tension, ending in the best possible way with Charlie saying what is on everyone's mind: just where are they? Character of the Episode: Plenty of characters stood out in this episode. I'll give this one to Sayid who made a great first impression. Conclusion: This episode was slower, but it was still an incredible episode that accomplished a lot of different things. As a two-parter, this pilot is practically perfect, filled with huge reveals, tons of characetr work, some intriguing mystery and plenty of motivation to continue watching the show. Score: 80
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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