Summary: In flashbacks, Boone goes to Australia to save Shannon from an abusive boyfriend. Boone pays the boyfriend to get him to leave but he eventually realizes that it was a trap from Shannon to get more money. Shannon's boyfriend takes the money and leaves her. Shannon goes to Boone and they have sex. On the island, Locke and Boone have found a hatch in the ground but can't get it open. Boone wants to tell Shannon but Locke doesn't want him to. Locke knocks him out and ties up Boone in the jungle. Boone is given a hallucinogen and has a vision of Shannon dying. He returns to Locke who tells him he needs to let go. Meanwhile, Sayid and Shannon grow closer and Kate discovers that Sun can speak English while helping her with her garden. Hurley tries to catch a fish to help with his stomach issues.
The Good: Boone's story here is really strong. His unhealthy relationship with Shannon is explored very nicely in the past and present as he needlessly involves himself in Shannon's life over and over again due to his awkward infatuation with her. I applaud the writers for taking the risk and putting in a very icky step-sibling romance into the show, using it to nicely deepen Boone's character and give him a creepier side. I like the episode's focus on getting Boone to let go of his love for Shannon. Him abandoning his dependence on her reminds me of Charlie ditching his drugs back in "The Moth", and the main story of this episode is impactful in a similar way to that one. But despite this being Boone's episode, it's Locke who is the standout. Locke gets plenty of scenes with various characters and his charisma and personality shines through in every scene. Some highlights include his Michelangelo speech to Boone early in the episode, his Webelos backstory to Sayid and his conversation with Jack on the state of his hunting. Locke seems to have seriously grown into a wise sage character as we see him offering assistance to just about everyone, and his decision to help Boone let go was pretty noble. The side stories were fantastic in this episode. Not only were they a lot of fun, but they also allowed the episode to touch on a lot of little details which I really appreciated. The Jin/Hurley story is consistently hilarious and I found myself laughing at Hurley's antics every time he came on screen. I also really love the idea of a rumour spreading around that Jin actually speaks English. That rumour, along with Kate's rumour that Locke has decided to keep the boar to himself, feels so realistic, since rumours would come up like crazy in a small community that has nothing better to do. There were some other little details I liked. Sun's garden is nice and it works as a hobby for her to help her kill the time. I also really loved the way that Kate discovered that Sun speaks English. Furthermore, I think it's really interesting that Kate was still lying to Sun despite thinking she doesn't understand what she is saying. Is she practicing her ability to lie to manipulate people? That's very interesting characterization. Lastly, I was very pleased to see Charlie's withdrawal being addressed, even if it was very brief. The Bad: It's a bit hard to believe that Locke can just make a strong hallucinogen just like that. Additionally, how could Locke know that the vision that Boone had would help him let go of Shannon? The show seems to be making Locke far more supernatural than he actually is with this poor writing. While the monster escape sequence was exciting, it's hurt by the fact that something just doesn't seem right the entire time. I ended up predicting the hallucination reveal early on and that took away from a lot of the drama. I also never bought into Shannon's supposed death since the moment felt way too flippant and out-of-nowhere to be real. I thought that Boone's story got totally overshadowed by the rest of the episode. It didn't stand out as much as it should have, and I was much more interested by Locke's scenes. Did Sayid really get over Nadia that quickly? Having him go after Shannon is a bit odd. The Unknown: What's in the hatch? How are Locke and Boone going to get it open? Why was Kate practicing lies on Sun? Why doesn't Locke's compass point north? That was a very interesting development, and it raises several questions. Also why did Locke say he didn't need the compass anymore? Is it because he knew it was faulty or something else? What's in that box that Michael was looking at? Best Moment: Locke's Michelangelo speech is really well done. It's always fascinating to listen to Locke speak and there is a sense of mystery throughout the scene as we try to figure out where Locke is heading with the story Character of the Episode: Locke. Conclusion: This was a very strong episode that told a solid character story with some very strong side stories and character interactions as well. Though Boone's story was somewhat overshadowed by everything else, this was still an easy to enjoy episode. Score: 69
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|