Summary: The opening scene shows Dr. Marvin Candle responding to an incident in The Orchid concerning time travel. Daniel is there. In flashforwards, Jack and Ben arrange to contact everyone. Sun meets with Widmore. Kate is contacted by a lawyer who wants a blood sample of her and Aaron so she runs away. Hurley and Sayid are on the run and they are attacked at their safehouse. Sayid is shot by a dart and goes unconscious. On the island, the beach camp has vanished. Daniel explains to everyone that they are all likely skipping through time randomly. A flash of light occurs every time they are whisked to a new time period. The group goes to the hatch and Sawyer tries to contact Desmond but it doesn't work. The group decides to head back to the beach. Daniel has an idea and manages to contact Desmond, telling him he's special. Daniel tasks Desmond with going to find his mother in Oxford. In the present, Desmond wakes up and remembers this, choosing to go to Oxford. Locke is also skipping through time, but Richard and the others are not. He sees the Beechcraft crash and is shot in the leg by Ethan before time jumping again. He is met by Richard who tells him that he needs to bring back everyone who left and that he needs to die to accomplish this.
The Good: The pacing of this episode reminds me of the excellent "Confirmed Dead" from last season. There's a lot going on in this episode, and the pacing is superb, making this feel like a pure thrill ride and the plot for season 5 gets kicked into motion. The island story is excellent. Implementing time travel is always a big risk, but "Lost" is so far doing it really well by establishing set rules and following them. Daniel is used perfectly here to give out explanations and simplify time travel for anybody that gets confused, and Jeremy Davies' eccentric performance adds a lot to these expository scenes. I'm really excited by the implementation of time travel since I do enjoy sci-fi, and this is an excellent way for the show to adapt and give us some answers about the history of the island and its inhabitants. I hope that the potential of time travel is utilized properly. The writers do well to not allow the time travel to completely take over the episode. Even though much of this episode works as exposition, there is still a very dramatic story being told here. Sawyer's presence adds some much needed emotion as he's forced to come to terms with everyone on the helicopter likely being dead after going to the freighter. As ever, Sawyer is really compelling here, and his anger throughout the episode feels justified. There is also a level of tension that comes up towards the end of the episode as Charlotte experiences a nose-bleed. Nobody seems to panic (except Daniel), but of course we know how serious this is after watching "The Constant", and it seems like the time skipping needs to be stopped soon or there will be deaths. This is an excellent source of constant tension that will likely elevate the suspense of the island scenes in coming episodes. I also really appreciated the subversion away from the rules of time travel at the end of the episode. It's always difficult to find a way to make time travel dramatic, but "Lost" accomplishes this through the use of Desmond who is considered to be special (likely because of his experiences in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and "The Constant"). Sure, not everything makes perfect sense with Daniel talking to Desmond, but there always has to be a certain level of suspension of disbelief in time travel stories, so I don't think that it is an issue. Locke's scenes are really well done. We can already see the potential of time travel in action here as we get to actually see the Beechcraft crash onto the island, and there's also a fantastic cameo from Ethan, who is the latest to be responsible for another leg injury for Locke. These scenes don't add a whole lot to the story, but they are essential for easing us in to the idea of time travel and the kind of situations that could potentially pop up in this season. Another excellent scene is the meeting with Richard, which raises plenty of questions (see: The Unknown). There is so much mystery here and their conversation is written in a way that really fascinates us into asking questions to find out where the story is going without giving too much away. The scenes in the flashforwards are pretty solid too. It's mostly just set-up for the rest of the season, but the content here is enjoyable to watch. Jack and Ben are just setting out to contact everyone, yet the hilarious irony is that everyone else is making it perfectly clear that they want nothing to do with Ben. It was awesome seeing another nicely choreographed Sayid fight. The opening scene of the episode was superb. While its become customary for "Lost" to surprise us in its season premiers, I was still thrilled by the reveals that we got in this scene. I was overjoyed to finally get a glimpse into the Dharma Initiative for the first time since "The Man Behind the Curtain", and the reveal that time travel would be a significant plot point of the season had me grinning from ear to ear. Daniel's presence raises tons of questions, and it doesn't give too much away. It's a perfect reveal to kick off the season, and I'm really excited to find out how and why he ends up working at the Dharma Initiative. The Bad: This episode is hurt by the fact that it has no centric characters, so the emotional core isn't there. The craziness of the plot makes up for much of this, but that level of emotional engagement is noticeably missing and it prevents this episode from being better. If Ethan met Locke before he crashed on the island, why didn't he remember him? Are we really supposed to believe that he just forgot? Or that he didn't mention this experience to anybody else? This seems inconsistent. The Unknown: Why is Daniel working at Dharma? What is his goal? Did the Dharma Initiative succeed at manipulating time? It seems that the frozen donkey wheel was there before the Dharma Initiative got to the island. Who put it there? What other time periods will we explore while the island is skipping through time? What will be revealed to us from these time periods? Why does Sun want to kill Ben? Is he the second person she blames for Jin's death? Why? She shouldn't know about how Ben killed Keamy to detonate the bomb. Did Locke tell her this? Who are the men that are trying to kill Sayid and Hurley? Who do they work for? Widmore? Ben? Somebody else? Is Desmond special because of his exposure to electromagnetism or is it something else? To what extent can he break the rules of time travel? How did Richard know all of these things to tell Locke? Like the bullet, and Locke needing to die to brign everyone back to the island. Does Richard have time-travelling powers that make him aware to it, similar to the mysterious lady from "Flashes Before Your Eyes"? Or is something else going on. Could this have happened because it's Richard from the future telling this to Locke? What is the significance of that compass? Best Moment: The opening scene gave me chills and it sets up the season perfectly. Character of the Episode: Daniel. Conclusion: This was a plot-driven sci-fi episode that had a lot of surprising and exciting developments that set the stage for the rest of the season. The emotional edge was missing, but I can't ask for a more exciting platform for season 5. Score: 70
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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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