Summary: Flashbacks show that Michael was in a relationship with Susan who eventually left him for a job opportunity, taking an infant Walt with her. Susan got involved with another man, Brian, and Michael's dreams of being a father were crushed. 9 years later, Susan dies and Brian goes to Michael to give him custody of Walt. On the island, Michael catches Walt with Locke and angrily blocks him from speaking with Locke. Michael decides to build a raft to escape the island and Walt helps. Walt sneaks away to see Locke but Michael finds out. Michael and Walt verbally fight so Walt leaves with Vincent. Walt is found and cornered by a polar bear. Michael and Locke work together to save him. After, Michael shows Walt some drawings he made for him when he was a baby and they grow closer. Locke goes looking for Vincent and finds Claire instead.
The Good: Michael finally got his centric episode, and what we got was a nice exploration into fatherhood. The flashbacks flesh out how excited Michael was to be a parent to Walt, only for that dream to be snatched away for him. It feels horribly unfair for Michael to finally be given a chance to be a parent after he loses all interest in fathering Walt, forcing him to take care of a kid who doesn't know and doesn't trust him. The story is told very well and it's easy to sympathize with Michael in spite of his poor parenting on the island. What this episode makes clear is that Michael does try to be a good parent but he doesn't know how to approach Walt as a father. It's sad to see him trying and failing to get close to Walt, and it's understandable that he gets angry at Locke who is actually successful at befriending Walt. The episode tells this story nicely and builds to a good conclusion as Michael is able to overcome his flaws. He makes peace with Locke and he earns the respect and friendship of Walt; a hard fought victory for Michael. The plot is interesting enough to follow. I love the idea of Michael trying to make a raft to get off the island. It's nice to see that people haven't forgotten about getting off the island, and it makes sense that people start coming up with alternate solutions when it is apparent that no help is going to find them. I also think the episode does get some good tension coming from the conflict between Locke and Michael. Then the end of the episode signals a meaningful change in the story as Claire stumbles back into the survivors. It will be interesting to see what happens next. There are some good things to enjoy from the side stories as well. The diary story is harmless comedy with moments like Charlie punching Sawyer, and later, Charlie trying to restrain from reading Claire's diary. But then things take a darker turn as Charlie discovers some disturbing comments (see: The Unknown). I also enjoyed the follow-up from the last episode as Boone resists the urge to drop everything for Shannon. He has moved on and changed, which is nice to see. The Bad: This episode comes off as too simple. The plot isn't very interesting and there really aren't any twists and turns, or moments of exciting drama. Though the last two episodes have been weaker than usual, they still have great moments of drama that surprise us and take the story in interesting directions. This episode doesn't seem to take any risks and it is a very straightforward story. That's not a bad thing, but it does mean that this episode does very little to stand out. I also had issues with how Michael was portrayed in the flashbacks. Rather than the flashbacks turning Michael into a gray character, like flashbacks have elegantly done for other characters, Michael is portrayed as a pure good guy. In contrast, Susan comes off as a pure bad guy. The story is surprisingly black and white, which doesn't quite fit with what "Lost" has presented to us so far. I thought the climax of the episode was very underwhelming. The polar bear threat isn't very dramatic since it's fairly obvious that nobody important is about to get eaten by the bear. I honestly felt more tension in the Michael/Locke scenes earlier in the episode than I did in the polar bear attack. Furthermore, the effects did not look very good, and the shaky cam that is used to dodge a good look at the polar bear made the climactic scene pretty disorienting, and less pleasing to watch. Did Michael seriously steal Brian's dog when he took Walt? The Unknown: Walt's apparent special abilities are very interesting. We see him throw the knife with stunning accuracy early in the episode. And later we see him seemingly summon a bronze cuckoo, the bird he was studying about, when he got angry. Finally, a polar bear attacks Walt after he looks at pictures of a polar bear in the spanish comic. These are very interesting tidbits that make me curious about what's so special about Walt. What is this mystery location on the island that Rousseau's maps point to? What's with the dreams Claire was having? What is the significance of the black rock that she was dreaming about? What happened to Claire after she was taken? How did she escape from Ethan? Did she escape or was she allowed to go back? What will she tell the survivors? What did Ethan do to her while she was gone? Best Moment: The Walt flashback was very well done. When the bronze cuckoo appears suddenly, the tone becomes very ominous and it's clear that Walt isn't just a normal kid. Character of the Episode: Michael. Conclusion: This was a good episode that told a simple story, but this certainly feels like a step down from the great character-centric episodes we got earlier in the season. Halfway through the season, "Lost" seems to have gotten into a somewhat disappointing stretch of episodes. Let's hope that Claire's return can give this season the momentum it needs to return to its best. Score: 65
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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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