Summary: In flashbacks, Jack obsesses over finding the identity of Sarah's new lover. He ends up following Christian in his paranoia and attacks him during an AA meeting. Jack is arrested and Sarah bails him out. Jack tries to get her to tell him the name of the man but she refuses to, insisting that Jack instead get over it. On the island, Jack, Kate and Sawyer wake up in various confinements. Jack is in an aquarium. He talks with one of the others, Juliet. Juliet offers him food but Jack is too stubborn to take it. Jack stages an escape but it fails and he ends up back in containment. He eventually relents after Juliet reveals that they know everything about him, including his past. Sawyer is put in a bear cage. There's a second cage with a boy in it. The boy tries to escape with Sawyer but they get taken back. The boy is taken away and Kate is brought in to replace him after she has an awkward breakfast with Ben.
The Good: Just like last season, this season starts with an unexpected plot twist that was executed masterfully. It's evident that something is up since the episode starts with some random woman living her life. It's just not clear what the twist is yet. But when you realize that you're watching the others and that they are normal people living in a normal little town on the island, it's a big shock. This scene throws everything we thought we knew about the others out the window and promises that there's still plenty of new things to learn about these people. This sequence followed the pattern of the opening sequence of "Man of Science, Man of Faith", and it's successful for similar reasons. While I don't think it's quite as impressive as that scene (simply because that scene came first so it was a bigger surprise), this is still wonderfully executed television that legitimately gave me chills while watching. This episode is helped by the focus on Jack, one of the strongest characters on the show. I remain impressed by how flawed this show has portrayed its main protagonist. The further we delve into Jack, the more flawed he becomes and I think that's such a fresh way to portray the main character of the show. The flashbacks in this episode delve into Jack's stubbornness and guilt in a meaningful way. We get to see that Jack gave Sarah a lot more hell than she deserved while finalizing the divorce, needlessly obsessing over what's happened between them, desperate for answers. Based on what we know about Jack from before, this is accurate to his character. But it's still shocking to see the hero of a story in such a negative place, going as far as to physically assault his own father at an AA meeting, causing him to relapse into alcohol abuse. That reveal that Jack prevented Christian from recovering adds another layer to the guilt that Jack carries around. We knew that Jack's morals cost Christian his career, but now it seems that Jack's own obsessiveness indirectly led to Christian's death as well. The story on the island was very interesting to follow. What's most striking is how slowly paced this episode is. "Man of Science, Man of Faith" was an exciting episode where a lot of things happened. This is the polar opposite of that. This episode patiently developed suspense and mystery throughout its runtime and I was consistently intrigued to learn what was actually going on and where Jack, Kate and Sawyer had found themselves. In this regard, the episode works pretty well and it sets up for the rest of the season. There were some good moments here. Juliet revealing that she knows everything about Jack was pretty well done. The show has introduced her very nicely. She's both intimidating and likeable so far. She doesn't hesitate to take out Sawyer when he escapes, but she's also quite nice to Jack. Speaking of Sawyer, watching him solve the puzzle was very entertaining, as was his reaction to only getting a fish biscuit for his troubles. The Bad: This episode did have some major flaws however. This biggest issue I have is the decision to restrict the events of this episode to just one location. After the big cliffhanger at the end of the second season, it's very unsatisfying to get no follow-up on what happened at the hatch. The slow pacing of this episode unfortunately makes this an even bigger issue. Instead of getting as absorbed in what was a pretty good episode of patient build-up, I found myself impatiently waiting to see what's happening with all of the other characters. This proves that constructing a good episode isn't enough to make compelling television, you also have to understand the emotions the audience is feeling and apply that to the episode. Another big issue with this episode is the lack of context, which made things extremely confusing at times. Unfortunately this is a problem throughout the episode. We don't know what the others are planning to do with Jack, Kate and Sawyer. While this does create drama, it also leaves me scratching my head when we see Sawyer and Jack both staging escapes immediately. The others look wildly incompetent for letting this happen, and I'm left confused as to what the goal is. They seem to be playing mind games with the survivors, but to what end? At times it screams lazy writing to me, and even if that's not the case, it does feel that way in this episode. Some little things bothered me as well. I'm confused about why Jack didn't ask Juliet if she knew a way off the island. He knows that the others have access to the rest of the world now, so why wouldn't he ask if there's any way for the rest of the survivors to just leave the island? Another issue I had was with the directing. Juliet asks Jack to put his back on the wall so she can give him food. Jack does so and she leaves, then we cut to flashbacks. The tone heavily implies that Juliet just left with his food. Yet when we cut back, apparently she just walked out to go use a different door to get to Jack. It's very sloppy directing to not make this clearer to the viewers, and it was another case of needless confusion in the episode. Lastly, Ben's commands to Goodwin to bring him lists in 3 days doesn't correspond to what actually happened in "The Other 48 Days", which is a sloppy oversight. The Unknown: Oh there is plenty for this section. Where is that town located? How does this place relate to the others goals? Why do they have book clubs? What do they do on the island anyways? Where is the Hydra in comparison to this place? Why do the others have control of this station but not the Swan or the Pearl? Are the others actually leftover Dharma people? Who was that person in the cage in front of Sawyer's? Why was he caged? Is Tom gay? His comments to Kate suggest that he is. Was that actually Christian on the intercom or is it just another mind game? Speaking of mind games, why are the other doing them? I thought they would be doing ominous scientific tests, but they haven't done anything like that. What are their goals for Jack, Kate and Sawyer? Why was Ben so pleased with Juliet getting through to Jack? Were the others really so incompetent as to let Jack and Sawyer escape so easily? Or was this somehow intentional? What happened to Kate off screen? She looks pretty roughed up, physically and emotionally. What did the others do to her? How did the others get full information on Jack? How acquainted are they with the outside world? Do they have a way off the island? Even more interestingly, do they have connections in the real world? Best Moment: The opening sequence. Once again, "Lost" nails the intro to a new season. Character of the Episode: Jack. Conclusion: This episode was ultimately a bit of a mixed bag. The opening scene was superb, but the rest of the episode never came close to hitting that same level. The pacing was slow, and while there was some good mystery and character work, I just didn't get as invested in this episode as I expected. I'll still call this a good episode, but it's a far cry from the epic thrills of the season 2 premiere. Score: 65
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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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