Summary: In flashbacks, Desmond is discharged from prison and meets with Charles Widmore who doesn't want him to talk with his daughter Penny anymore. Desmond decides to do a race around the world to win Widmore's respect to get Penny. He ends up on the island and meets Kelvin. Desmond learns from Kelvin that the button is to discharge intense electromagnetism but that there is a failsafe to blow it all up instead. After two years, Desmond discovers Kelvin was lying to him and accidentally kills him in an argument. Desmond misses the button counting down and a system failure occurs but it is aborted. This ends up causing the Flight 815 crash. On the island, Desmond is the man in the boat. Sayid comes up with a plan where he, Jin and Sun take the boat to the camp while Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley follow Michael through the jungle. After engaging in a fight with some of the others who followed them, Jack reveals to everyone that Michael is lying and they continue. However, Michael leads them into a trap. Sayid raids the camp but finds nobody there, and Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley are captured in an ambush. Michael is given a boat and leaves the island with Walt. Hurley is sent back to the camp, and the remaining 3 are taken by the others. Meanwhile, Locke tells Desmond that the button is just an experiment and they lock Eko out of the computer room with a lockdown. Desmond realizes that the button is actually real but Locke doesn't believe him and breaks the computer. The timer runs down and the hatch starts to destroy itself. Desmond desperately goes to the failsafe and turns the key. Elsewhere, two people detect an electromagnetic anomaly and inform Penny that they finally found it.
The Good: Similar to "Exodus", this was an epic finale that concludes the season's stories with a bang, completely changing the landscape of the show for the next season. There were tons of major events and reveals in this episode, and it was a blast to watch the entire time. Though the episode was a season finale, it was still a character-centric episode. I think it actually worked quite well as Desmond was a good character to center on for such a big episode considering how we knew nothing about him and that his story ties directly into the history of the hatch. As expected with "Lost", the show gave Desmond a surprising amount of depth, and we learn a lot about him in this episode. Back in "Orientation" we saw a picture of Desmond with another girl, who we can only assume that he was in a relationship with. Now we learn a little bit about that relationship. The episode is subtle with the details of their story, and from what I can determine, Desmond left her out of fear and ended up in prison after disobeying orders in the army. He wrote to her frequently, but Penny's father Widmore hates Desmond and intercepted his letters. To prove to Widmore that he is worthy, Desmond took the race around the world but tragically ended up on the island, away from the woman he loved. It's a sad story, but also a good one that leaves room for further exploration in future episodes. I think the writing really made this story stand out. The writers used clever tricks to tell us this story, relying on character dynamics and emotions to tell us the story rather than giving us major exposition dumps. It's an expertly crafted story and it's clear that a lot of thought was put into writing this. Once Desmond reaches the island, the story takes a big turn. We meet Kelvin, who is a surprisingly familiar face (see: The Unknown), and he provides us tons of interesting answers. We learn the history of the blast door map, the nature of the hatch, and more hints about what the sickness actually is. His scenes with Desmond are quite good, and it becomes easy to understand why Desmond is so hysterical in the present, having been trapped in this little world for so long with a man who he learned was lying mere moments before his death. Desmond's life was a misery without any purpose, filled to the brim with unanswered questions to drive him insane. That scene near the end where Desmond finally snaps after reading the letter from Penny was extremely powerful and gave the episode the emotional heart is needed (see: Best Moment). In the present, the hatch storyline was superbly done. There was tension from the conflict between Locke and Eko. The return of the dynamite was a good way to build some unpredictability, and Charlie's involvement was also intriguing even if it didn't amount to much (see: The Bad). The closer the countdown got to zero, the more intense things seemed to get. Once Eko knocked himself out, Desmond began to get doubts and tension came from that. We get two very strong hints that The Pearl was the real psychological experiment, and that added to the sense of building dread as Locke forced Desmond to wait until zero, even going as far as to break the computer. The moment where the timer reached zero was fantastic. The direction was superb as we got to see everything falling apart while Locke reacts in a stunned panic, realizing that he was wrong. The turn of the key at the end was a dramatic moment that the show nicely transformed into an emotional moment as well, turning it from a great scene into something even better. This was a pretty tricky story to execute. Had Locke's motives not been understandable for all of this, that would have destroyed the credibility and believability of what we were watching. But I was quite impressed with how well Locke's turn had been handled in the past few episodes. This episode gave us some surprisingly poignant moments with Locke. First we get to see him tearing up in the jungle after he gets hit and scolded by Eko which is a small but effective moment to show us Locke's headspace. Then later we get a brilliant speech from Locke as he reveals to Desmond how the island had betrayed him, reflecting on Boone's death and how much it had shaken him. The speech was wonderful, and it recapped the sadness of Locke's story effectively. The episode gave us some big answers to long-running mysteries, and all of them were quite satisfying. We learn that the button is real and that it's used to disperse electromagnetism which charges to an extreme degree every 108 minutes. The incident was an electromagnetic leak which likely did a lot of damage. Everything isn't crystal clear, but these are effective answers that fit with everything we have learned so far. On top of that, we also get an unexpected reveal that Desmond actually crashed Flight 815 with a burst of electromagnetism from the hatch. I don't think very many people were wondering why the plane crashed, but "Lost" went the extra mile to impress us by answering a question we didn't know that we had to ask. The other half of the episode saw a trek across the island, which is becoming a signature for "Lost". The trek was filled with drama considering that only Jack and Michael were aware that there was something deeper going on. This resulted in a large amount of tension which culminated in a brilliant scene where Jack puts Michael on the spot and gets him to confess to what he did. That scene was superb. Everybody acted tremendously, and Harold Perrineau continued to impress me as he embodies Michael's guilt in a near-perfect way. I really appreciated Hurley calling Michael out on his claims that killing Libby was an accident, and Michael's response to all of this was tremendous. All he can say is "it's my son", a feeble attempt to justify what he did as the right thing, not only to the others but to himself as well. The Bad: I have a few griped with this. The biggest problem with this episode, and perhaps even the season itself, is Charlie. Charlie is impossible to like in this episode. He relishes in Locke pain and never seems to have anything nice to say to anybody. That may be acceptable if the writers want him to be a character we detest, but seeing that Charlie kisses Claire at the end of the episode, I don't think that's the case. The last scene with Claire was really bad. Charlie doesn't seem to care whatsoever that Eko, Desmond and Locke may be dead, and he makes no effort to help them. He doesn't even tell anybody what went down in the hatch! It's so unbelievable that he would do this, and his sarcastic replies to Claire are more frustrating than charming. The character has done nothing to deserve the kiss he gets at the end of the episode, and I can't help but feel that the writers have turned a rather simple redemption story into something nearly unwatchable because it makes little sense and completely destroys a character who I really liked in season 1. There are some holes in Michael's plan. The others never communicated to him that he should be taking Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley to anywhere other than the camp he visited. That's a big hole, and it made the dramatic ambush mean less since the writer's fingerprints are all over the episode in order to set up that scene. I was also confused by Sayid charging into the others' camp all alone. What would he have done if people were actually there? There's no way he could fight them all by himself. There are also some inconsistencies with the planning from the others. It looks like Henry is some kind of a leader among them. If that's the case, then why has he allowed to be captured by Rousseau? Also, a major issue for Michael was getting Hurley to join the trek, especially since he isn't a fighter. This is pretty much what allowed Sayid to determine that Michael was lying to begin with, since Sayid couldn't come along. Yet the others inexplicably let Hurley go back to the camp. SO why did Michael need to bring him specifically? Bringing Sayid could have been way easier and he would have served the same purpose! The Unknown: Libby appears in Desmond's flashbacks. Is there still more to learn about her and her dead husband? What's with the bird that shouted Hurley's name? What is that four-toed statue? Who built it? What destroyed it? Michael is apparently only able to leave the island at a specific bearing. How is this possible? Why is this the only way to leave the island? How are the others aware of this? Was the Dharma sickness fabricated by Kelvin somehow? He seems to be completely aware that it isn't real but he still tricks Desmond into believing that it is. Is Henry the leader of the others? He seems to be in command of everybody else. We also learn the names of "Zeke" and "Miss Klugh" as Tom and Bea respectively. Is there any significance to the others hiding their true names? What happened when Desmond turned the failsafe key? Why did the sky turn purple? What happened to the hatch? What happened to Locke, Desmond and Eko? Are they still alive? Very interesting ending scene. Is Penny aware of the island's existence? How? Is she looking for it because she knows Desmond is there? Will we be seeing her next season? Best Moment: Following Kelvin's death, Desmond realizes there is no purpose in his existence and he contemplates killing himself. But at his lowest moment, he finds a letter from Penny encouraging to keep fighting so they can be together again. Now unsure of what to do, Desmond panics and has a complete breakdown. Henry Ian Cusick is brilliant in the scene and makes it remarkably easy to sympathize with Desmond. Then we get to see Locke at his lowest moment as well, and unknowingly both of them give each other the hope to keep pushing on. It's a beautiful message, and the scene ends on an optimistic note. Then we cut to the present where Desmond tells Locke this story and decides to repay Locke by saving his life. That's fantastic writing, and it makes me connect a lot more to the characters. Character of the Episode: Desmond. Conclusion: This was excellent stuff. A huge episode to end the season in a memorable way while also including some new mysteries and big cliffhangers to pave the foundation for season 3. This is everything I want to see in a season finale, and then some. This season has been rough for "Lost", but at least the show found its groove eventually. The first half was very inconsistent, with plenty of disappointing episodes saved by a few outliers that included some of the best episodes of the entire series. But thankfully, the second half found some consistency, and while the writing was still a little awkward at times, I was hit by the same emotional magic that "Lost" had mastered in season 1. This season took the show in a new direction with an emphasis on plot development, but the characters still managed to shine in several episodes, including this brilliant season finale. But I still feel that this season pales in comparison to season 1, which I think is one of the greatest TV seasons of all time. This season is still very good and at times excellent, but there's no denying that it is a step down in quality. I look forward to season 3, and I hope that we get a more consistent season that can balance plot and characters in a more effective way. Score: 83
3 Comments
Ben
1/7/2020 04:08:34 pm
I had already read most your thoughts about the first two seasons on Robin's site, but looking forward to seeing your thoughts on the rest of the series.
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Aaronic
1/8/2020 04:45:52 pm
It's nice to see your scores for the series thus far. I'm a bit surprised to see season 2 hold up so well in comparison to season 1 for you. Typically, I've always regarded season 2 to be one of the weaker seasons of the show. I certainly understand your sentiment about the scores being too high. Lost was the first TV drama I ever saw, so I've found it quite tough to score the episodes without having biased opinions from the 12-year old boy in me who was fascinated by practically every scene and storyline in the show when I watched it for the first time.
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Ben
1/9/2020 02:29:25 am
I was 10, going on 11, when I started watching, so I understand completely. This season is certainly inconsistent and I agree it's overall weaker than the first season; it contains three of the worst episodes in the show and has a couple of slow runs, but I also think it contains the two very best episodes of the show, and I overall enjoy the mystery of this season. I think there's a darker tone to this season overall, and I like the additional characters (Ana, Desmond, Eko, Henry). Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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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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