Summary: In flashbacks, Jack treats Sarah who has very little chance of regaining the ability to move below the waist. Christian tells Jack to improve his bedside manner, and Jack ends up telling Sarah he is going to fix her. Stressed out after he fails the surgery, jack goes for a run and speaks with a man named Desmond who encourages him to believe in miracles. Miraculously, Sarah can wiggle her toes and Jack is stunned. On the island, a man is revealed to be living inside the hatch. Jack decides not to go into the hatch because the ladder is broken and he talks Locke out of going in. Jack makes a speech to the panicked camp that he will stay with them until morning and they will be safe. Locke goes out to the hatch and Kate joins him. Locke lowers Kate down into the hatch but something happens to her. Locke goes down to investigate. Jack decides to go to the hatch anyways and he goes in. He finds Locke with a gun to his head, and discovers that Desmond in inside the hatch.
The Good: That first scene was a perfect way to start the season. I've never seen a season of television open up with such a bold, thrilling, and shocking twist/reveal. This was just a genius idea, and it was executed to perfection. With that painful cliffhanger at the end of "Exodus", everyone is clamouring to see what is inside the hatch. So when we are presented with what seems to be a flashback sequence, we get a little bit frustrated. But then as the scene goes along, things get really weird. I was engaged in trying to unravel what was going on, and I was hit by a huge surprise once I realized that the show had given us exactly what we had wanted (a look inside the hatch) without us even realizing what was going on. The transition to the shot of Jack and Locke looking inside the hatch was a magnificent reveal and it capped off an extraordinary opening sequence. As for the bulk of the episode, I thought it was incredible. This did everything you would want from a season premiere. From the first minute, this episode was packed with intrigue and excitement. There were so many questions raised, and this did an absolutely brilliant job of keeping my interest. The episode is also packed with drama, including Kate's descent into the hatch, Jack exploring inside of the hatch and Shannon seeing Walt in the jungle. There was so much to enjoy here, and I think anybody would be immensely satisfied with this. But what sends this episode over the edge is the wonderful character exploration it does alongside the drama. Jack is given a very thorough examination in two departments: his inability to give out hope, and his dedication to being a man of science. I'll discuss the former first. We have seen throughout the first season that Jack is a very realistic man, and he is horrible at giving people hope. That character trait is explored here as we see Jack utterly fail at giving out hope in the flashbacks. He gives Sarah a harsh truth and Christian pulls him aside and chides him for it. Jack doesn't listen to Christian, and we see the consequences when Jack horrifies Sarah's fiance. In response to seeing the effects of taking away hope, Jack goes too far and gives Sarah too much hope. Having been unable to strike an effective balance between optimism and pessimism, Jack ends up wracked with guilt. But the pay-off comes on the island when Jack finally gets to apply what he has learned in a fantastic speech. His speech works so well because we see him completing his mini-arc of character development as he steps up as a leader and gives out hope to the camp, easing everyone's minds and cooling the panic. It's a lovely scene that was built up to in a very good way. On the other hand, the episode also explores Jack's determination to be a man of science. Both on the island and off the island, Jack stands by his realistic world view, evidenced by his response to Hurley's claim of being cursed. "They're numbers" is what he tells Hurley, and he is unwilling to even consider the possibility of the supernatural, immediately honing in on the idea of Hurley having been in a psych ward beforehand. He ignores any possibility of the supernatural, even going as far as to ignore the mythical smoke monster he had just seen a couple hours earlier. Jack refuses to believe in faith or destiny and we are shown how far he is willing to go with this belief. But what makes this storyline so compelling is that Jack is forced to confront the existence of miracles twice in the episode. The first time is in the flashbacks. In a wonderful scene where Jack meets Desmond, he discusses how he doesn't believe in miracles at all. Yet the next day, he finds that Sarah has miraculously regained feeling in her legs. Jack still doesn't accept the miracle, and as we see from "Do No Harm", he is more than happy to assume that he was simply successful in the surgery. But on the island he is faced with a miracle he can't ignore. In the ending scene, Jack comes face to face with Locke who has a gun to his head. Yet Jack seemingly couldn't be happier. Locke's "destiny" has led to his life being threatened, and Jack is more than happy to taunt him instead of attempting to save him. But right in his moment of triumph, Jack is forced to face the possibility that destiny may actually be real as encounters Desmond again in what must have been a one-in-a-million chance. Jack is forced to toy with the idea that destiny must be real, and that is a fantastic cliffhanger to end the episode on. The rest of the episode is filled with lovely little scenes. I was very pleased to see Kate and Locke talking about the smoke monster. They both saw something fantastical and it is only natural to want to discuss it. I was similarly pleased with Jack confronting Hurley about his crazy behaviour in the last episode. Another great moment comes from Kate as she is lowered into the hatch. Her dialogue with Locke is really well written, and it's a joy to watch. I also really like the callback to the pilot as Kate counts down from 5 when faced with fear. The Bad: I don't have much to add here. I suppose it would have been nice to see Kate and Locke also question Hurley's behaviour from the last episode. The Unknown: Now I have plenty to add here. How long has Desmond been in the hatch? How did he get there? Was it connected to his race around the world? What is he doing there? What is the facility he is running? Why have we never seen him leave it? Is he alone? Why? What was with that strange injection he took? What's with that computer that woke him up? Is it an alarm or something? Why does he have so many guns available? Where does he get all of his supplies? Also what was with that wall that Jack was looking at? The key around his neck was attracted to it. Is there something magnetic in there? I have so any questions and I'm really excited to learn more. Why did the hatch door say quarantine on it? Does that have something to do with the sickness that Rousseau claimed her crew had? Was Walt really in the jungle? How did he get there? Was it just a vision? What was he saying? The victim of Sarah's car accident was a man named Adam Rutherford. Shannon's last name is Rutherford. Could that be her father who we know is dead? Best Moment: It has to be the opening scene. Just wonderful television. Character of the Episode: Jack. Conclusion: Now this is how you start a season. Not only was this a dramatic episode that sets up the season in an interesting way, but it also served as an excellent character piece for Jack that gave him some brilliant conflicts to deal with. This is fantastic television and is the best episode of the series so far. Furthermore, this is also the best season premiere I have ever seen. Season 2 is off to an amazing start and I cannot wait to see more. Score: 90
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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