Summary: Flashbacks show Shannon's rocky relationship with her step-mom Sabrina. When her father dies, Shannon's inheritance is kept by Sabrina since there was no will. As a result, Shannon is unable to pursue a job opportunity and she lashes out at Boone who doesn't seem to believe in her abilities, just like Sabrina. On the island, Shannon sees Walt but Sayid doesn't believe her claims which frustrates her. Charlie and Claire have a smallfight and Claire goes to Locke, letting him know about Charlie's Virgin Mary statue. Mr. Eko, Jin and Michael reunite with the rest of the group and press on to the survivors' beach camp. Sawyer passes out due to his wound so they decide to cut through the jungle. Cindy vanishes and Ana pulls out her gun. Shannon looks for Walt through the jungle with Sayid. They reconcile but Walt suddenly appears. Shannon goes after him but is shot and killed by Ana Lucia.
The Good: This episode was balanced much better than every episode this season since the premier. Every storyline was interesting and there was an appropriate amount of time spent advancing each conflict. It's nice to see the pacing return to normal, and I think that made this episode easier to watch. Furthermore, it was nice to finally get flashbacks for Shannon, giving the flashbacks importance, which was missing in "Everybody Hates Hugo" and "...And Found". Shannon's backstory is solid. She has always been a bitchy character who has been difficult to like. It's good to see that the writers thought up of a good story to explain why she behaves in such a toxic way. Shannon's relationship with Sabrina is horrible, and the pressure of constantly being deemed a failure seems to have gotten to her repeatedly. She freaks out against Boone who is only trying to help, and she does the same to Sayid on the island. Her inner conflict is easy to understand, and it adds some depth to her when we learn why she is so determined to prove herself once people start doubting her abilities. Shannon's island story is interesting too because of Walt's mysterious appearances (see: The Unknown). His seemingly random appearances are very creepy, and they add some dramatic weight to the episode. The ending scene is very well done and it delivers a real surprise when Shannon is shot and killed. Shannon's scenes are also inter-cut brilliantly with the Tailies storyline as Cindy is taken by the others right when Shannon and Sayid begin hearing the whispers. Speaking of the Tailies, their story was solid again. We finally get to the point where they have intersected with the main group of survivors, and the stage has been set for a big conflict. Shannon has died, the Tailies have some horror stories to tell about the others, Sawyer is in critical condition, and the survivors will learn that the raft will not be bringing rescue. The scenes with Charlie/Claire/Locke were fine. There wasn't anything special here, but it does look like the writers are developing a long-running story centering around Charlie's Virgin Mary statue. I'm interested to see where this goes. The Bad: Shannon's death does feel a bit lazy. She has done practically nothing in the entire season, and it feels like she was killed because the writers were unsure of what to do with her now that Boone is dead. Her death scene was surprising and it will likely have a big impact on the story, but it doesn't feel like a major game-changing death, likely because Shannon has firmly been a background character for much of the show. It's not as impactful as if somebody like Sawyer had died instead. The writers still have not addressed why Sayid is engaging in a romance with Shannon. Shannon brings up that he's just going to leave her for Nadia, but we don't really get to see how Sayid actually feels about that. We haven't been shown why Sayid would want to be in a relationship with Shannon, and we also don't know how he feels about it. That's a problem, and it's one of the reasons that this romance never quite felt right for me. It's odd that Locke wouldn't immediately confront Charlie on his drug abuse when he hears about the Virgin Mary statue. Instead Locke just vaguely accuses Charlie of being a druggie and doesn't follow up at all. That's not like the wholesome sage Locke that we had gotten to know in season 1. Once again, "Lost" is sacrificing character communication for the sake of meaningless drama. The Unknown: Why is Walt appearing randomly. Since Sayid saw him, he's clearly not an illusion. Is he with the others? Were they around when he showed up? Is he trying to escape? Or warn the survivors? What was he trying to say to Shannon? Did Cindy really get taken like that? How? Why? What motivates the others to do this? Apparently they took a lot of the Tailies, including some kids. Why did they do that? Why haven't they taken anyone from them fuselage survivors' camp? Ana Lucia refers to a point when Mr. Eko apparently wasn't talking. Why wasn't he talking? When was this? How will Sayid react to Ana Lucia killing Shannon? How will the camp react to this? Will there be any major conflict? Best Moment: The ending scene was a good surprise and an effective cliffhanger. Character of the Episode: Shannon. Conclusion: This was a solid episode that improved on the season's unbalanced pacing. While not a special episode itself, this does nicely set up for what will hopefully be better stuff in the next few episodes. 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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