Sea. 1, Ep. 17: ...In Translation

Wow. It's hard to believe, but we're nearing the end of the first season. Before we know it, we'll be meeting Desmond, Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko and seeing what's inside that mysterious hatch. But for now, we have to deal with a Jin-centric episode. "...In Translation" fills in some of the missing pieces from the Sun-centric episode we reviewed earlier (House of the Rising Sun).

In the beginning, the survivors on the beach are awkward onlookers as Jin berates Sun for wearing a two-piece bathing suit that reveals a whole lotta skin. He forcefully covers her up and knocks her down to the sand in his efforts, sparking Michael to step in and break up the couple. Michael thinks he's doing the just and noble thing until Sun slaps him 'cross the mouth. Ouch. Sun later apologizes to Michael (in English, of course), but he ain't havin' it. His pride's been hurt.

But Michael's not sweating it too much (well, not 'til later on). We can see that he's made a tremendous amount of progress on the raft. I've always had a little problem with how nice and neat the raft looked, but what can I do? It's just a minor complaint. The raft is big enough to accomodate four, and Jack is disheartened to learn that Sawyer has secured one of the spots.

It looks like the raft will be ready to go in a few short days. But that night people come running from all directions to see the conflagration that was Michael's vessel. Someone has set it ablaze, completely ruining it. Naturally, Michael fingers Jin as the culprit because of what happened between them that morning. An irate Michael demands Sun to tell him where Jin is. She doesn't reveal his whereabouts, but Sawyer finds him in the jungle.

Cut to the beach again the next day. The survivors are ready to lynch Jin because they're certain that he destroyed the raft. Of course, he can't defend himself due to the seemingly indomitable language barrier. I say seemingly because this is the huge turning point where Sun reveals to everyone--Jin included--that she can speak English. She is able to translate for a stunned Jin so that the others can hear his side of the story. Everyone is quite flabbergasted by this revelation ('cept for Michael and Kate) and it threatens to destroy Jin and Sun's relationship. Jin packs up his belongings and moves it to the beach, giving Sun the proverbial cold shoulder.

Things are in disarray. Namely the raft and some of the relationships on the island. In a mildly interesting final scene we learn who the true culprit was. Locke and Walt play some backgammon (black and white again!) and have a friendly chat. Then Locke asks Walt why he torched the raft. Walt's cornered, and he tells Locke that he doesn't want to move anymore. He's done it all of his short life and he's sick of it. You sorta feel for the little dude.

The flashbacks in this episode pair up nicely with those seen in "House of the Rising Sun" because we get to see some of the events that transpired in that episode from Jin's perspective as opposed to Sun's. We see that Jin takes a job working for Sun's father Mr. Paik (a veddy, veddy bad man) and that he's forced to do some unpleasant things to earn his keep. Remember how the Kwons' relationship devolved in "House of the Rising Sun" as Jin was sucked into his job? And recall that he stumbled home one evening with another man's blood on him? Well, we see where that red, red kroovy came from. Mr. Paik makes Jin "deliver a message" to someone with whom he's not pleased. Jin doesn't understand that this is the universal code of mafia types and that it means "kick the living snot out of that fellow."

So Sun's father is indirectly responsible for her tumultuous relationship with Jin. They're in need of counseling. But they don't go together. Jin pays a visit to his father to talk things over. Earlier in the episode, we were under the impression that Jin's father was dead. But Jin only makes it seem that way because he's ashamed of his father's lowly livelihood as a fisherman. And, oh, the irony is so rich. Jin's father offers him some sagely advice: don't work for Mr. Paik anymore! What genius!

Other things of note:

• The blossoming romance between Sayid and Shannon. Blech. I'm thoroughly convinced that this development in the storyline coincided with the writers' decision to kill Shannon off in the second season. If Sayid hadn't entered the picture romantically, there would've been no one on the island who cared a lick about this awful, awful character (remember that Boone will be dead by the time Shannon kicks the bucket).
• Locke serves as the voice of reason in this episode. First, he tells Shannon that she ought not to worry about what Boone thinks because his only goal is to win her attention (he sells out his hatch partner!). Secondly, at the beach he lectures about the real threat on the island. He reminds them that they all know there are others on the island and it's futile to pick fights within in the group when they should unite against the other unknown presence on the island. Right on, John Locke.
• The episode ends on a humorous note when the batteries in Hurley's CD player finally quit on him. You'll remember that his CD collection has provided the music for several of the episode-ending musical montages. Does this mean there'll be no more after this? I can't recall, but I think it might be.

Join me next time for the awesome Hurley-centric "Numbers."

Sea. 1, Ep. 16: Outlaws

Judging by the title of this episode, you can probably make an educated guess that it's going to revolve around either Kate or Sawyer. If you chose the latter, then you've won some sort of grand prize. Not from me, though. I don't have anything to give you.

But it really is a Sawyer episode, and it opens up in a most heartbreaking fashion: we watch the young Sawyer hide under his bed while his father shoots his mother and then turns the gun on himself as he sits on the bed above the boy. It's quite tragic, but it provides us a narrow window into James Ford's psyche.

On the island Sawyer is reliving this memory as a nightmare, and when he wakes up in his tent on the beach, he's surprised to find someone (something, rather) rustling around at the opposite end of his tent. It turns out to be a boar, and it makes off into the jungle with some of Sawyer's things. He gives chase and ends up in the jungle, surrounded by ominous whispers. It's those damned whispers again! I have trouble understanding exactly what they say, but the entry for this episode on Lostpedia asserts they're saying, "it'll come back around." I suppose that makes sense seeing as how Duckett (the man Sawyer shot in Australia) says it as he's dying.

So Sawyer spends most of episode tracking the boar that did him wrong. It attacks him on two more occasions. The first time it chases him, and the second time it ransacks more of his stuff. All of this leaves our tough guy thoroughly pissed. Kate's also trying to help him, but doing it for reasons of her own. Earlier, Jack told Kate that Sawyer still had a gun, which he claimed he was okay with. But Kate is confident that she can get it back from Sawyer. She subsequently offers her tracking skills to help him find the boar in return for "carte blanche," which she'll obviously use to get the pistol back. It's all quite complicated and yet another time in the series where this lust triangle creates all sorts of problems. As I've said before, I couldn't care less about their three-way melodrama. Just give me the science-fiction, thank you very much.

Somewhat related to the lust triangle is the game of "I Never" played between Sawyer and Kate. I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention that they played it. It provided them the opportunity to trade barbs with each other, and at the end of it all you can tell that there are some bruised egos and hurt feelings. The scene actually takes quite a chunk out of the episode, which I didn't recall it doing. Oh, well. Outlawzzz bein' outlawzzz, I guess!

All right. The majority of what I like to think of as the episode's "filler" has been covered. What's really cool about this episode is the flashbacks. We've already mentioned the scene that changed young little Sawyer permanently. What of the others? The past few chapters have concentrated on character development, and there's nothing wrong with that. But in "Outlaws" we're witness to the chance meeting that Sawyer and Christian Shephard had in a bar down under. The two knock back liquor like it's water and Sawyer gets to learn a little bit about the good doctor before he even meets him. It's a great instance of the interconnectivity between the survivors of Flight 815. It's great because it's one of the first times we see how these strangers are inexorably tied together. And, judging from the fifth season finale that showed Jacob selecting these people off of the island, we certainly must ponder why destiny brought these disparate personalities together (do I sound like Locke here?).

We can also further observe how Sawyer wrestles with his demons via the other major flashback. We learn that Sawyer was in Australia because he had information about the man who had ruined his parents' lives. The guy now runs a shrimp stand in the Outback, and Sawyer pays him two visits. The first one allows Sawyer to meet the man he's been hunting all of his life face-to-face. The two engage in some strained yet mundane conversation, and then Sawyer vanishes. The next time he comes, he puts a bullet in the man (lo and behold, two consecutive episodes with shootings!). Of course, we don't learn until the third season that Sawyer has killed an innocent man. Well, he may not have been innocent, but he wasn't the "Sawyer" that James was actually seeking. That S.O.B. actually fathered another one of the 815 survivors (the interconnectivity again!), and the two become a strange pair of allies as they team up to kill him. If you don't know of whom I speak, then I'll just let you remain in the dark for now. But seasoned Lost fans should remember this.

And so, those are the main highlights of this excellent episode. One of my favorite parts of the flashbacks is having my opinions of the characters altered, and I feel that takes place for me here with Sawyer. Sawyer's a changed man after he kills that man in Australia. After that, brother can't even shoot a boar that wronged him.

Sea. 1, Ep. 15: Homecoming

"Homecoming" is the episode that features the return of Claire (remember the end of the previous installment?). Only there's a problem: she don't remember nothin' 'bout what done happened to her! But even though "Homecoming" seems like it'd be billed as Claire-centric, most of the emphasis (including the flashbacks) is placed on Charlie, who's still torn up about his sweetheart's abduction and his inability to set things straight (tuck that last nugget of info away for later).

So, here's the gist of what goes down: Ethan confronts Charlie and Jin in the middle of the jungle and demands of Charlie that Claire be returned to him. Sheesh. It appears that Ethan's more obsessive than one of Driveshaft's groupies. He claims that if he doesn't get Claire back by the end of the day, he'll kill one of the 815 survivors. And if the holdout continues, he'll keep offing them one by one on a daily basis 'til they're all dead. The icing on the cake is that he'll kill Charlie at the very end.

Of course, this means that the survivors have to spring into action to save their own. Now it's not the first time we've seen it, but this development in "Homecoming" leads to another instance of the emerging conflict between Jack and Locke. After learning about Ethan's demands from Charlie, the two debate about the best way to ward off Ethan's threat. In the end, Jack bends to Locke's will and follows his approach. They will set up a few sentries around the beach during the night and keep the rest of the people in the dark about what might happen. It appears that all is going to plan until Boone dozes off in the dark. He wakes sometime during daybreak when the alarm (a bag with bottles and cans set off by a trip wire) rattles and clanks, and he jumps into action. He's too late, though, because Ethan has made good on his threat and eliminated one of the survivors (a dude named Scott Jackson). Fortunately for us, it's no one we recognize. [Editor's Note: Although it looks like Boone is to blame, Kate remarks that Locke said Ethan came in from the water, meaning the perimeter setup was pretty much useless. I'll continue to blame Boone, though. He's a young guy. He shouldn't have fallen asleep so easily!]

In light of Ethan's success, the survivors change up their game plan. Jack tells Locke about the Marshal's guns, which will obviously provide them with a tremendous advantage. They scheme to cast Claire out as bait so that they can jump Ethan and apprehend him. Despite Charlie's protestations, they go ahead with the plot. It works perfectly. A number of them surround Ethan, and after a fist fight concludes it looks like they'll be able to bind him up and extract information from him. But then Charlie impetuously shoots their captive. Way to go, sport. Save for Sawyer's shooting of the Marshal, this proves to be the first of many deaths-by-gunfire on Lost. And I doubt that any of us would've pegged Charlie to be the first shooter.

Oh, one last note: that scene with Ethan's capture and death plays out in the pouring rain. It's the leitmotif that remains inexplicable.

Charlie's flashbacks show us that the washed-up rock star was a low-life junkie with a heart of gold. In need of cash to maintain his flow of smack, Charlie preyed on a young woman whose father had a load of dough. The plan was to steal valuables and pawn them for quick cash before disappearing for good, but Mr. Crooked Jaw fell for the lass. He even took a job selling photocopiers for her father so he could impress her. Too bad he'd already stolen from her. Otherwise he could've set things straight! Huh?! See the parallel between the on-island happenings and the flashbacks? Pretty clever writers, eh?

So that's a straightforward assessment of the episode. Doesn't look like Ethan has superhuman strength after all, otherwise those bullets might've bounced off of him. Other than that, I think the largest thing to take away from this episode is the opposing forces of Jack and Locke. They don't clash too badly here, but it's definitely an prelude of things to come as they both vie for positions of leadership.

Thanks for reading!

Sea. 1, Ep. 14: Special

For a number of reasons, I've been eager to review this episode ever since I began the Rewatch a couple of weeks ago. Firstly, I only remember having seen this episode once before. I had spun through each of the first season's installments at least twice, but for some reason I think I only watched this one during my initial introduction to the series. Maybe I passed it over because I had written Walt and Michael off for the most part, but that leads me to another reason why I've been looking forward to documenting "Special." I want to know why the writers created all the hype around Walt and his "special" qualities only to remove him from the show, for all intents and purposes, during the second season. I understand that Malcom David Kelley, who portrays Walt, was on the precipice of puberty and that his real-life growth wasn't going to mesh with the timeline established on the show. I'm sure the writers were cognizant of this, too. So why did they devote a whole episode to emphasizing how unique Walt is if they didn't plan to flesh it out further? Is there going to be some sort of payoff for Walt fans in the cataclysmic sixth season? And will the litany of questions about this show ever cease?

But what of the episode itself, you ask? Okay. Let me get to it.

On the island, Michael searches for Walt. He's furious to find that his son is once again hanging out with the mysterious John Locke. Walt's learning how to throw knives like a circus pro, but Michael ain't havin' it. Locke tries to stick up for the boy, telling Michael that he should treat his son like an adult because the plane crash and the subsequent survival has given him a whole host of life experience. He also stresses that Walt is "different" somehow, the episode's first reference to Walt's vague powers.

Stewing over his confrontation with Locke, Michael declares that he will build a raft and try to sail away from the island. He feels that everyone has become too complacent and that no one's attempting to get back to their regular lives. He baldly tells Walt that he wants to control their destiny. It's another mention of that oft repeated concept.

Troubles continue for Michael, though, as he gets Walt to help him assemble materials for a raft. Walt wanders off under the pretense of procuring water, but Michael later finds him chumming around again with Locke (even though Locke is admonishing the boy to respect his father's wishes and stay away from him). The ensuing fight causes Walt to storm off. Michael needs to search for his son, and Locke assists him. It's a good thing he does, because Walt has run afoul of another one of the island's polar bears, and Michael and Locke need to work together to rescue the lad. Ultimately, they do, and everything is peachy keen and hunky dory after that.

The flashbacks in "Special" shed light on the reasons for the turbulent relationship between Michael and Walt. Just when you think that Michael is somewhat of an obnoxious, overbearing father, you get to see his side of the story and realize that Walt's mother treated him very unfairly. The witch even intercepted all of Michael's correspondence to his son. Walt had been living with his lawyer mother and lawyer step-father in Australia when she suddenly took ill and passed away. With Walt's mother removed from the equation, Walt's step-father wanted nothing to do with the young boy. He laid it all on Michael and essentially said that Walt weirded him out. A livid and reluctant Michael did the noble thing and flew to Sydney to take custody of his biological son. And we all know what happened on their return flight over the Pacific.

Other notes:

• I had forgotten that Michael nearly suffered the same fate as Sayid's beloved Nadia. After learning on the phone half a world away that Susan was with another man, an angered Michael recklessly storms into the street and his hit by an oncoming car. Was this Jacob's will? Or Jacob's adversary's will? If it was Michael's destiny to end up on the island with Walt, then it makes sense that he would survive this accident. We also see in the fourth season that Michael couldn't even kill himself when he drove a speeding car into a wall because Tom tells him that he still has business with the island. This wouldn't be an earth-shattering revelation. I'm just noting the coincidence of two characters being hit by cars in busy streets.


• Walt's powers are further scene in a flashback episode involving his mother and step-father. Droning on about birds he's learning about in school and angered that Susan and Brian are ignoring what he's saying, he shouts at them. In the same moment, a bird crashes into one of the room's windows and plummets to the ground, apparently dead. As the camera switches from the dead bird to Walt's book and zooms in, we see that the bird featured on the open page is the same one that just pulled a kamikaze into the window. So this means that Walt can will creatures toward him if given the proper motivation? We don't know for certain. Again, it appears to be a vague power and one that still has yet to be addressed by the show.

The final scene of the episode neatly presents a segue to the succeeding one as a bewildered Claire stumbles out of the jungle and greets Locke and Boone. Boy, howdy. At this point in the first season, things're gettin' good.

So, as usual, we've recapped an entertaining episode. I still have that bone to pick with the writers and their emphasis of Walt's unique abilities, though. I'm hoping that I've forgotten some of Walt's more specific talents and that further progress into the Rewatch will jerk the rusty chain that's attached to the lightbulb in my head.

Sea. 1, Ep. 13: Hearts and Minds

The first episode on the agenda for the fourth week of the Lost Rewatch is the Boone-centric "Hearts and Minds." If you've forgotten about this particular episode and you're groaning because it centers around Boone, let me remind you that it's a sordid tale of semi-incestuous relations, psychedelic head-trips, and screwy compasses. That's right. This episode nearly has it all!

In the beginning, we revisit Locke and Boone and the hatch that they've discovered somewhere in the jungle. Locke has plans to patiently devise a scheme to break into the hatch, but he wants to test Boone before he takes on the young Padawan as his hatch-cracking apprentice. Locke knocks Boone out cold and ties him up in a complicated fashion. One of Boone's arms is in front of him, and the other is behind. Whenever he leans forward, a tremendous amount of pressure is placed on the shoulder of his rear arm. It looks like torture. Locke applies some strange paste that he concocted earlier to the fresh wound on the back of Boone's head, and then he plants a knife just out of his reach, telling him that he'll be able to cut himself free once he finds the "proper motivation."

That motivation comes in the form of Shannon's screams. He calls to her and learns that she's also been bound to a tree by Locke. He forces himself forward to barely grasp the knife and proceeds to cut himself free. Then he goes after his step-sister, in whom Smokey has apparently taken interest. He frees her and they run off. They evade the Smoke Monster for a while, and Boone spills the beans about the hatch (precisely what Locke didn't want him to do), but their luck eventually runs out and Shannon's snatched and mutilated by Smokey.

Boone seeks vengeance that night, finding Locke and attacking him for what he did. But wait a second! None of it happened! It turns out that Locke is somewhat of a shaman, and that strange paste that he placed on the open wound on Boone's head had some hallucinogenic properties. 'Twas all imagined in Boone's head. But he passed the test, because he tells Locke that he felt relieved when he came across Shannon's shredded corpse. For Locke, this means that he can trust that Boone will no longer desire to gab about the hatch to his step-sister. It appears that the young Padawan is ready to become a full-fledged Jedi.

Of course, I've neglected the flashbacks in my synopsis. They show what the two step-siblings were doing in Australia. Boone was there to rescue his cherished step-sister from an abusive boyfriend, something that he had apparently done on two other occasions. Why did he keep doing it? Boone had been "in love" with Shannon from an early age. And that's where the semi-incestuous part comes into play: they consummate their bizarre relationship by bumping uglies shortly before they get on the doomed flight.

We also hear a small bit about how Boone's mother (Shannon's step-mother) had gipped her out of a nice chunk of change. It's just a little piece of information to tuck away for now, because we'll later learn about the troubles that followed Shannon after her father died in a car accident.

Other notes:

• The first mention of a strange magnetism on the island. Locke gives Sayid a compass (saying he doesn't need it anymore) and Sayid soon finds that the directions are skewed. He shares the information with Jack, saying that only a large magnetic disturbance could cause such an aberration. Looks like the writers knew what would be contained in the hatch before we even got past the door!
• Kate learns of Sun's secret English abilities. While gardening with the Korean, our fugitive notices something in Sun's body language as she listens to Kate talk. Kate calls her on it, and Sun realizes that she can no longer keep it a secret from her. Of course, we still have to wait a little while for Jin to get wind of this.

Even though these early episodes follow a lot of different characters, I just can't shake my funny feelings about Locke. They continue in this episode. How does he know how to make his strange drug? How can he navigate the jungle without needing a compass any longer? The questions linger without any solid answers. I keep beating this dead horse, I know, but I won't be surprised to find out that Locke has never been the John Locke we thought we knew. Or the John Locke with whom we became acquainted through his flashbacks. Something's been odd from the beginning, and they might drop a larger Locke bomb on us next season than the one we saw at the end of the fifth season.

Thanks for reading. Please, comment away! It'd be a tremendous help to know how many people (if there are any) are stopping by to read my Lost thoughts!

Sea. 1, Ep. 12: Whatever the Case May Be

The Lost Rewatch's third week closes with the Kate-centric episode in which she and Sawyer find the case that had belonged to the U.S. Marshal on Flight 815. But it's no ordinary case. It holds some sort of special significance for our feminine fugitive.

Kate and Sawyer liberate the case from the bottom of a small lake they find in the jungle. The two explore the depths and spot two bloated corpses still fastened into their plane seats. (Let me just add here that these two corpses, which I'm sure were supposed to look disturbing and/or frightening, are just comically unrealistic. Well, I've never seen any waterlogged corpses, but I'm sure they look a lot more disgusting than the two featured here.) Underneath them is the case that becomes the object of Kate's affection.

We witness how shifty and sly Kate is, as she tries to convince Sawyer that she's not very interested in the case when he believes the opposite. Later on, she tries several times to lift it from him, betraying the cool and collected indifference she once professed about the case's contents. When she's unsuccessful in getting the case from Sawyer, she tries to pull one over on the good doctor. She tells him the unadulterated truth about the case, its contents, and how to open it. They have to exhume the Marshal's body, because the key was in his wallet. When they dig the guy up, Kate attempts to earn another Academy Award nomination by sneaking the key out of the wallet and then pretending to be upset that it's not there. But Jack knows better and demands to inspect her hands. Tsk tsk, Kate.

Eventually they open the case together, and in addition to all of the Marshal's guns and ammunition there's a small green envelope. As the suspense builds for the audience (what the hell's in there?!), Kate slowly withdraws a miniature toy airplane from the envelope. Um, what? Jack, like us, thinks there's more to it, and demands to know what's so damned important about it. All she can tell us is that it belonged to the man she loved. When pressed further by Jack, she exclaims that it belonged to the man she killed. She then breaks down, and we think, Oh, right. She was a fugitive. We don't know any better at this juncture, but we'll learn later that it actually belonged to a guy who indirectly died as a result of Kate's actions. It was her childhood friend Tom. She didn't actually murder him. She murdered her father.

Reinforcing this outlaw image, the flashbacks show us how Kate duped a whole bunch of people to get her hands on the plane in the first place. Some dude that she was with at the time orchestrated a bank heist, and she played the foil. She acted as a helpless victim so that the bank manager would allow the robbers access to the bank's vault. But once they were back there, she turned it all around on her beau so that she could get into a safe deposit box (GASP! She wanted access to box #815!). She put a bullet in each of the bad guys and then coerced the manager to open the box. Inside was nothing but an envelope, which I would guess held the plane that she so desperately wanted.

Other things of note in this episode? More of Maggie Grace's atrociously awful acting skills. When Shannon gets upset by Sayid's frustration, I always burst out laughing at what terrible range Ms. Grace possesses. I know that Shannon was written as a whiny, spoiled brat, but you'd think that Maggie could have some sort of two-dimensional whininess rather than the one-dimensional version she delivers. It's really, really bad.

Oh, and Rose rains on Charlie's self-pity party. A bit of tough love, and it seems to slightly help the recovering junkie as he worries about Claire.

This episode doesn't strike me as terribly deep, especially since Locke is absent. It's simply an opportunity to learn a little more about Kate's past. But even then, we don't learn too much. Just that she's an outlaw with a heart of gold.

Sea. 1, Ep. 11: All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues

We've made it to the fourth week of the Rewatch, yet I'm still finishing up the third week's episodes. I've spent a lot of time in the car during the past week shuttling myself between two family vacation spots, so I've fallen behind in the schedule. But I'm now back in front of my computer for the foreseeable future, and productive I shall be.

At the beginning of the previous post, I marveled at how many different characters there are on the show and how the writers kept centering on a different man or woman in each episode. Well, I spoke too soon, because today's episode is a character's first repeat episode: "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues" is the second Jack-centric tale. But that's okay, because we always learn a bit more about the Losties through another 40-minute installment. And Jack's deep. And layered. He's a well. He's an onion. Actually, strike that. Jack and his father are both wells and onions. Drs. Well and Onion M.D.s.

Joking aside, this episode has some heavy stuff. Let's get to it.

On the island, everyone's in a mad scramble because Hurley's census revealed that Ethan--who had been living amongst the survivors of Flight 815--was not on the flight's manifest, which means that he had already been on the island. They're also scrambling because Charlie and Claire have gone missing. Oh, and they also remember that someone or something has been trying to harm Claire during the night. They're all in a tizzy over it, 'cept for Sawyer.

Conveniently, Jack and Kate are experienced trackers. Jack and Boone join them as they tenaciously tail the missing Brit and Aussie through the jungle. Jack and Kate are a pair, and Locke takes the young Boone under his wing. The former find Ethan and the moribund Charlie, but no Claire. The latter find something else entirely, and it'll keep 'em busy for many episodes.

Before I tackle what each pair finds, allow me to gloss over the flashbacks. They're quite good, but there's no need to recap them in great depth here. They simply involve Jack and his father Christian, who struggled with an alcohol problem. Christian botched an emergency surgery because he had a few cocktails with his lunch while he was on call and it resulted in the patient's death. He tried to coerce Jack into covering for him, and Jack nearly did 'til he had a crisis of conscience. He wound up telling a review board that his father was a boozer, and it presumably led to Christian's termination as Chief of Surgery. And that's probably why he went on the bender down under that killed him.

There. Now back to the island.

Jack and Kate follow the trail of tape that Charlie left for them. Remember how Charlie wears tape around his fingers? And he writes letters on them? L-A-T-E? Well, he hung them on different branches as a trail. It leads Jack and Kate to a rain-soaked showdown with the all-powerful Ethan, who proceeds to beat the living snot out of Jack, threatening that he'll kill either Charlie or Claire if they don't stop following him. Of course, Jack and Kate don't listen and proceed the chase. They come upon Charlie, blindfolded and hanging from a tree. They take him down and, in a bizarre scene, Jack tries to resuscitate the rock star to no avail. It looks as though Dominic Monaghan's run on Lost is a short one, because the sad music's playing and he's not showing any signs of coming back to life. Then, in a fit of frustration, a sobbing Jack beats on Charlie's chest as Kate has to turn away in disgust. Inexplicably, Charlie gasps back to life after Jack pummels his chest for what seems to be the thirtieth or fortieth time. After a moment of exultation, they get him back to the beach and beseech him to tell them what happened. Charlie can't remember, except that "they" only wanted Claire.

One of the greatest questions surrounding this scene is Ethan's apparently gargantuan strength. I know others have speculated on it, but I have to say that I don't really see any superhuman strength here. I mean, there's the comment about how he can whisk a grown man and a pregnant woman away into the jungle by himself. I suppose that's impressive. But he doesn't appear to have ungodly strength when he fights Jack. He just gets at him and gets at him good, I say. But if Ethan were to have super strength, the best explanation would involve his birth on the island, which we see in the fifth season. That would also explain why he was so enamored of Juliet when he met her in the third season (since she successfully delivered him in 1974), but, once again, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's just say that Ethan's strong. Maybe not incredibly ultra-strong, but strong.

In the other search party, Mr. John Locke continues to mystify us. This is the episode in which he finds the fabled hatch with Boone, a plot development that will consume the majority of his actions for the remainder of the first season. Before that, though, we would be wise to examine the scene in which he predicts the onset of rain with uncanny accuracy. As he marches along with Boone, he turns and announces that it will rain in "one minute...give or take a few seconds." And, like clockwork, the skies above Locke and Boone open up about 60 seconds later. Seeing as how Locke remains an enigma, even in these early episodes where we think we should know him better, I'm hard pressed not to attribute this prediction to some special resonance with the island. When first viewing this episode, I think I counted this talent among his many survival skills (boar hunting, tracking). But dude's way too good, right? It's just a bit too convenient. We're going to have to remember that ambiguous interaction Locke had with Smokey and not be surprised when we learn in the sixth season that he's never been the John Locke we thought we knew. I'm just saying...

Further proof is shown in one of the final scenes of the episode. As night sets in, Boone thinks they should call it a day and head back home. But Locke ain't havin' it. Here's their brief little exchange:

Boone: Are we lost?

Locke: No, Boone. We're not lost.

Boone: Sorry. It's just...I don't see how you can still be following this trail. I think we should go back, man.

Locke: Don't you feel it?

Boone: Feel what?!

Locke: It!

At this point, Boone throws in the towel, telling Locke that he's headed back. Locke's okay with it, and even turns around to give Boone his flashlight. He tosses it to the younger one, but it falls through his grip and lands with an odd, metallic clunk. Lo and behold, it's the hatch.

So, again we're faced with a question about Locke. What was the "it" he was referring to? Is the finding of the hatch more evidence of his special commune with the island, or was it simply dumb luck? Maybe the electromagnetism contained in the hatch was pulling at the fillings in his teeth? Again, it's hard to say definitively, but I'm gonna lean toward the special commune. Looking back on these episodes, it becomes clearer and clearer that the writers had something special planned for Locke from the very start. All of these incidents can't all possibly be coincidence.

Look, that last line rhymed. That means I should wrap this up and hit the hay. I'll be back at it tomorrow with "Whatever the Case May Be."

Thanks for reading!

Sea. 1, Ep. 10: Raised by Another

The tenth installment of Lost's first season offers us a series of flashbacks centering on yet another character. Man, the breadth of personalities on this show is nothing short of amazing, and, as I've said before, it's one of the myriad reasons that people get hooked on the series.

"Raised by Another" shines the spotlight on the adorable Aussie and mother-to-be Claire. It opens with her in the midst of a terrible dream. She wakes in the middle of the night and hears a baby's cries. She wanders around, finding Locke sitting at a table. He's dealing cards (probably tarot cards) and he tells her that "everyone pays the price now" because she gave her baby away. As he looks up at her from the card table, we see that his eyes are two different colors: his right eye is black and his left eye is white. And like good Lost students, we'll take note of that. Departing from here, she continues to follow the cries of the baby. They lead her to a bassinet in the jungle which contains bunch of blankets. She sifts through the blankets to get to the baby, but there's nothing in them except blood. She screams, and her shrieks in the dream carry her back into reality where she continues to scream. Charlie tries to console her, but he's not very effective. Now, here comes the twist: the blood she had on her hands in the dream is present in reality, too! Spookiness, right?

The haunting dream sets the tone for the remainder of the episode, which has some other freaky-deaky stuff. On the island, it mainly has to do with Claire getting attacked by some unidentified assailant with a long syringe. Sadly, we won't find out who the culprit was 'til season two. But of course, we should know that it was Ethan. Remember? He was tryin' to make sure Claire delivered a healthy baby, 'cause it probably would've been the first one delivered on the island since Juliet delivered him in 1974 (season five).

Ah, yes. Ethan. He's another freaky-deaky part of the episode. Good ol' Hurley decides to keep a record of everyone on the island, and his episode-long efforts culminate in the discovery that Ethan wasn't on Flight 815. In the final scene, Ethan's got Charlie and Claire alone and cornered in the jungle. Viewing this for the first time, we don't know what's gonna happen. We don't even know if Ethan has bad intentions. But we find out soon enough!

So, someone's trying to do something to Claire's baby, we just don't know much more than that. What of the baby, though? I thought you'd never ask, dear reader! That's where the flashbacks come into play. And, you guessed it: more freaky-deakiness.

Turns out Claire got pregnant when she wasn't expecting it. Baby-Daddy was all about it in the beginning, but then he decided he didn't want any part of it, so Claire was going to deliver the child and give it up for adoption. That is, until she visited some Australian John Edward who kept giving her different stories regarding the future of the baby. At first he declined to give her any reading because something he saw spooked him (he later claimed that he saw a "blur," which was a bad sign). At a later reading, he told her that she couldn't give the baby up for adoption and that she was the only one who could raise the child. According to him, the baby needed Claire's good energy incorporated into its life. Disregarding the psychic's admonitions, she attempted to give the baby up to some lucky couple. She reached an agreement with a husband and wife and was about to sign the child away when some greater force intervened. The pen with which she was prepared to sign the contract didn't work, nor did a second pen. Holding a third pen, she hesitated and backed out of the deal, going back to the psychic who had told her that he had some sort of a solution to her problem.

Get on the plane to Los Angeles, was the solution the psychic offered. He told her that there was a willing couple there, but that she had to take a specific flight. Oceanic 815 to be exact. While recounting the story to Charlie, Claire realizes that the psychic probably foresaw the crash of the plane on the island and told her about the Los Angeles plan so that she'd be stranded halfway there with no alternative but to raise the child herself.

So, the big questions posed in this episode about Claire and her baby (Aaron) are yet to be answered. There's been no sign of Claire since the fourth season, but the producers have said that the mystery surrounding her will be addressed in the final slate of episodes. I have to say that it's a storyline that I'm looking forward to for next year. Claire's not among my favorite characters, but everything with her has been so weird since Keamy's troops attacked her island house in the fourth season. She up and left Aaron and then was chillin' out in Jacob's Cabin with the specter of Jack's father. Awesomely spooky, if you ask me.

And why's Aaron so important? What's happened to him since Kate left him with his grandmother before returning to the island? Why was it so important that he not be raised by anyone else but Claire? Has he been imbued with special powers because he was born on the island? And what was the blur in the psychic's vision? Smokey?

The questions, my friends, pile up. And there'd better be some good ones about Claire and Aaron in the sixth season. I'm sure there will be.

Sea. 1, Ep. 9: Solitary

Hello, gang.

I'm a little behind this week. It's Thursday and I'm finally getting to my first episode. In some countries, that's an offense that's probably punishable by death. Fortunately for me, I'm in the good ol' U.S. of A.

"Solitary" is our first Sayid-centric episode. Remember how he went off on a self-imposed exile at the end of the previous episode? Well, this one picks up that thread of the story, and we learn how the lovable Iraqi stumbles upon Danielle Rousseau (A.K.A. the French woman from the repeating distress call) and her hideout.

The episode begins with Sayid sitting alone on a beach, studying a snapshot of his love Nadia. Turning his gaze down the beach, he notices something odd in the sand. He approaches it to get a better look and finds that it's a cable running through the sand. It's coming from the jungle, and it goes out into the swells of the ocean. Naturally, Sayid follows the cable into the jungle, which leads him to a trap. Strung up like one of Locke's boars, Sayid dangles upside-down from a tree 'til someone comes along and cuts him down. Sayid loses consciousness and later wakes up tied to mattress-less bed with someone asking him "Where is Alex?" in several different tongues. Sayid hasn't the foggiest idea of what the voice is talking about, so he gets a nice jolt of electricity.

So, as stated earlier, the captor turns out to be Danielle Rousseau. And through the conversations between her and Sayid, we glean the following:

• Rousseau was part of a science team whose ship crashed into the island during a storm.
• Someone took her child Alex from her. Little do we know that it's a female rather than a male. Tricky unisex names!
• Her lover Robert gave her a music box for their anniversary. It hasn't worked for a while, so Sayid fixes it.
• She's the only survivor from her team. "The Others" carried something which the other Frenchies presumably caught. She had to kill them because they were "sick." Oh, and "the Others" can be heard to whisper in the jungle.

Not a terrible amount of information, but we're accustomed to that on Lost. Sayid manages to escape from her shelter, but they later run into each other again in the jungle. And guns are involved. More on that a little later.

The flashbacks in this episode show us more about Sayid's stint as an interrogator in Iraq's Republican Guard. Basically, Sayid was a BAMF. That is, until he was forced to interrogate an Iraqi cutie from his past named Nadia. She sorta breaks him down, and he tries to buy time to keep her alive. Eventually, Sayid's bosses press for her execution because she won't divulge any of the information that they're trying to extract from her. Torn about what to do, he orchestrates her escape, and she vows to see him again, whether in their current lives or in an afterlife. It's all quite sentimental, you know, but seasoned veterans of the show know how it all goes down.

"Solitary" is also notable for the first appearance of Ethan, about whom we'll soon learn more. He's only on the screen for about 30 seconds here, chumming about with Locke and delivering luggage to Hurley which contains golf clubs. Oh, that's the other thing: Hurley builds a golf course for the survivors. A bit of lighthearted fun that's all fluff and no substance.

Back in the jungle, there's a standoff between the escaped Sayid and Rousseau. Sayid pulls the trigger of the rifle he stole from Rousseau's place, but it doesn't work because she had removed the firing pin. She had done the same to her lover Robert several years ago and was forced to shoot him. The Iraqi and the Frenchwoman have a heart-to-heart, and Sayid asks her to join him and the other survivors because he feels they have the best shot to get off of the island, but she declines. As Rousseau and Sayid part ways, the former admonishes the latter to watch the 815 survivors closely. This makes a whole lotta sense after we see in the fifth season how things played out between the French team. As we now know, it turns out that the sickness was caused after the Smoke Monster dragged Robert and others down into the Temple. After that incident, they had subtly changed, and were somehow evil, which is why the pregnant Rousseau had to fill 'em full o' lead.

The episode closes with Sayid making his way back to the beach. Upon reaching some clearing in the jungle, he hears the whispers that Rousseau talked about surround him. As with the other mysteries of the island, there's been speculation about the significance and origin of the whispers. I wish I could take credit for it, but the most interesting theory I've heard so far is that the whispers are the voices of others who have inhabited the same area at different points in time. Now that we know how significant time travel has been in the history of the island, one can't help but wonder about time travelers running in and out of scenes that they weren't originally a part of. To clarify my muddied idea, indulge me in this example:

In season five, there's a scene in which the Losties left on the island are bouncing around in time, not sure of where they're going because the frozen wheel is skipping on its axis. During one of these time skips, Sawyer walks into the scene in 2004 where Claire gave birth to Charlie. Sawyer had been on the island in a different spot during that time, but as a time traveler he's embedded in the jungle and watching Kate serve as midwife. If there are any whispers during this scene in season one (and I don't think there are, but we'll see) then one could theorize that the whispers belong to the future Sawyer who's skipping around to different points in time.

Got it?

Well, if you don't, I don't blame you. Hell, that theory might not even be right. I only include it here because, as I said, I think it's pretty darn good. If you've anything to add about the whispers, feel free to leave some comments.

Thanks for reading!

Sea. 1, Ep. 8: Confidence Man

As the last episode of our second week of re-watches, "Confidence Man" invites us to explore Sawyer's character further. But the episode also teaches us a little bit more about the swarthy Sayid and the sadistic art of torture that he developed as a member of Iraq's Republican Guard. Oh, and then there are the lovey-dovey scenes with Charlie and Claire. I guess Charlie was completely embracing his pregnancy fetish at this point. Oh, I kid, I kid...you should know that I like Charlie. I just question his eagerness to get involved in potential baby-daddy issues.

As we begin the episode, conflict abounds on the island. Jack is mending the wounds Sayid suffered when he was knocked unconscious by some unseen foe at the conclusion of the previous episode (remember that we later learn it was Locke who did they dirty deed). Then Shannon comes stumbling into the caves and supporting her step-brother Boone, whom Sawyer bloodied after finding him rummaging through his cache of supplies. Boone had been searching for Shannon's inhalers because she has bad asthma and ran out of her original dose of medication. As luck would have it, Shannon soon battles through some severe asthma attacks, and Jack has to coach her through them while Sayid tries to get the inhalers from Sawyer. As Shannon violently gasps for breath, I think to myself, I don't know what's worse: Shannon's asthma attacks or Maggie Grace's acting. Hah! I'm so clever. If that offends any Maggie Grace fans, then I apologize. That's my first--but definitely not my last--jab at Ms. Grace's acting, which I have always found atrociously bad.

Anyway, while all the hubbub over Shannon's asthma is going on, the flashbacks show Sawyer's life as a con man. Boy, oh, boy...was he a sleazy guy. Well, until a kid entered the picture. He was about to make off with a load of cash given to him by his mistress and her husband, but when he found out there was a young boy--not unlike himself--that would be hurt by the scam, he called it off. That's a pretty thin synopsis, but I feel that it's pretty straightforward at this point: Sawyer's parents were duped by a con man and it resulted in his father killing his mother and then turning the gun on himself. So even though Sawyer became a con man himself, he couldn't let his actions affect any children. Does that make him sort of a nice guy? I dunno...it's pretty murky. I'll say no, though.

Back on the island, Sawyer finds himself a little tied up. Literally. He's apprehended and gets some facetime with one of the Republican Guard's finest torturers. To be sure, Sayid was eager to once again become a torturer because Locke duped him much like Sawyer duped lovely ladies and their husbands. Early on in the episode we see that Sayid has been interrogating different people in hopes of finding out who cleaned his clock. When he questions Mr. Destiny, Locke turns the tables on him and suggests that it was actually Sawyer who sabotaged his triangulation plan. Sayid believes him. So Locke plays the role of manipulator here, even though that's not where he usually finds himself. I mean, in a related third season episode he did sucker Sawyer into killing Anthony Cooper, who turned out to be the confidence man we learn about in this episode. But getting duped into giving up a kidney and believing that he'll magically find his way back to the island? That's more like the Locke we know and love (or hate).

Anyway, Sayid shoves bamboo under Sawyer's fingernails and later winds up slicing one of his arteries. To top this madness all off, Sawyer tells Kate that he doesn't know where the inhalers are. Pretty brutal business, and by the end of the episode we learn that Sayid is going into some sort of self-imposed exile because he's upset with what he has done.

In the end, Sun comes to Shannon's rescue by creating some sort of concoction containing eucalyptus. It works, and Shannon can breathe again. Sawyer's tragic past is revealed to us by an angry Kate. She's angry because he tricked her into kissing him. Oh, and Charlie delivers a jar of imaginary peanut butter to Claire. If he had tried something like that on me, I'd have sent the Smoke Monster after him. "Confidence Man" also ends with another brief musical montage. I don't have any issues with it; I simply didn't remember that that's how they closed a lot of the first season shows. It's drastically different from the later episodes in which some dramatic twist is revealed in the last 120 seconds or so.

So, for a second consecutive episode there was little Lost lore, but a whole lotta character development. I'm not complaining, but it'll be good to move along and see some of the scenes that are a little more relevant after watching the fifth season. I think that's the main purpose of the whole re-watch.

See you in a few days, and thanks for reading!

Sea. 1, Ep. 7: The Moth

Hello and welcome once again to today's installment of the Rewatch. I have a feeling that this'll be a brief write-up, as "The Moth" doesn't offer much in the way of island lore, but it's a good episode nonetheless. As the writers were wont to do in the very beginning, this episode fleshes out some of the characters a bit more.

"The Moth" features the first deeper look at the island's resident rock star Charlie Pace. Remember how Charlie exchanged his heroin for his guitar at the end of the previous episode? Well, here we see the repercussions of that decision, as he begins to experience withdrawal. And Locke continues to exert his control over Charlie, saying that he won't return the drugs until Charlie has asked for them back three times. Locke stresses the fact that everyone has a choice, and Charlie can choose to give in easily to temptation or hold out and become drug free. Ironically, we see Mr. Destiny giving a lecture about choice and free will. As we've already covered in previous episodes, that's not what Locke seems to be about. He's a fatalist through and through. I don't know why he doesn't just use his commune with the island to help Charlie get through it without all the nasty business of withdrawal.

This episode also highlights the battering that Charlie's psyche is taking while trying to fit in among the others. No one seems to care that he was the member of a popular rock band, and his lackluster efforts to help Jack and company move their belongings to the caves get him pushed aside. Feeling lonely and small, he blows up at Jack, and his angry shouts lead to a massive cave-in of rocks. Charlie escapes the danger, but Jack gets trapped behind a wall of the rubble. Oops, Charlie.

Running parallel to this are, of course, the flashbacks. These Charlie-centric ones revolve around the relationship with his older brother Liam. It looks as though they got along famously until they literally became famous. They made it big with their band Driveshaft, but then the myriad women and limitless supply of drugs went to Liam's head. And history repeats itself, as Charlie--who was originally in control of the band--is pushed aside by his brother.

Another item of note in "The Moth" is the beginnings of the famous love triangle between Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. The two men obviously have a thing for Kate, and Kate seems to be into Jack, but we should know by now that it's just the early stages of a long and unrequited love. Regardless, in this episode we see that Kate's sad that Jack's departing for the caves. Then Jack gets trapped behind the rubble and Sawyer learns about it. Sawyer's jealous of Kate's flirtations with Jack, so he withholds the information until he knows he can upset her with it. It's really all quite juvenile and I'm sure you can tell that it's not one of my favorite aspects of the show. But it is what it is, and I appreciate the fact that some people enjoy it.

Ultimately, Charlie resists temptation (after asking Locke a second time for his drugs) and redeems himself by going into the rubble to free Jack. What's more is that he pops Jack's dislocated shoulder back into place, something which would surely make me yak. Charlie is showered with praise, and at the end of the episode we see that his transformation is complete, because he asks Locke for his heroin so that he can throw it in the fire and be rid of it.

Oh, and I nearly forgot! Sayid tries to triangulate the location of the French distress call and is nearly about to do succeed when he's sabotaged! Some unknown figure knocks him out, and he's unable to complete his task. At this point we don't know who did it, but we later learn it was Locke. Why? Locke doesn't want to be rescued. And we know that he's serious about that. He'll even blow up a damned submarine to stay. My goodness.

Like I said, "The Moth" is heavy on plot and character development, but devoid of any larger mysteries. Since we know who knocked Sayid out, there are really no secrets in this episode. Consequently, I think my recap is a bit thin compared to others. But that's bound to happen, particularly when we get to episodes like "Exposé," in which those two terrible characters that the writers tried to introduce are killed off.

But once again, thanks for reading!

Sea. 1, Ep. 6: House of the Rising Sun

As you can probably surmise from the title of today's episode, "House of the Rising Sun" focuses on Sun and, by extension, Jin. While some fans may be quick to dismiss this episode (I get the feeling that most people don't have a whole lot of interest invested in Jin and Sun, but I may be off target with that assumption), I think it serves as an example of another one of the show's many strengths: the devotion to developing a wide array of realistically complex characters. The episodes following the pilot gave us a healthy dose of Jack, Kate, and Locke, but "House of the Rising Sun" takes some of the focus off of those select few and reminds us that there are a lot of other people who survived the plane crash.

Up until this point, we haven't seen much of the Korean couple, but we have gleaned that Jin is a domineering husband, and Sun is his meek and subservient wife. Neither of them appear to speak any English, but toward the tail-end of the episode we learn about Sun's impressive bilingual skills which she has effectively hidden from everyone else, including Jin.

Okay. On to the events of the episode.

After the camera opens up on Sun's eye, we're treated to a morning scene on the beach where everyone's preparing for another day of survivin'. Things are sunny and serene 'til Jin comes out of nowhere and goes all Ronnie Lott on Michael. Jin wrestles him into the surf and punches his lights out, and he only stops when Sayid and Sawyer intervene and pull the two apart. In light of the attack, Sayid cuffs Jin to a piece of the wreckage on the beach. Jin is unable to defend himself or explain his actions, so the others ask Michael why he thinks he was attacked. He claims that he wasn't doing anything, and that may be true, but the audience most likely remembers how Michael stumbled across the topless Sun as she was washing up in a previous episode. Did Jin get wind of this somehow? Oh, it's very, very saucy. Actually, by the end of the episode we learn that Jin attacked Michael because of a wristwatch. Michael found it somewhere on the island and claimed it as his own. Unbeknownst to him, it belonged to Sun's father, and it was entrusted to Jin. According to Sun, being in possession of it was a "question of honor" for Jin. So it turned out to be one big cross-cultural misunderstanding. Not so saucy.

Elsewhere on the island, Jack, Kate, Charlie and Locke have gone to the caves to get a supply of drinking water. Charlie steps out momentarily for a taste of Sweet Lady H and stumbles upon a beehive. The others try to help him escape the danger, but Charlie panics and stirs up the whole nest. They all flee in different directions. Jack and Kate return to the caves and inadvertently find two old skeletons. One of the skeletons has a pouch around its neck, and Jack takes it off and inspects what's inside: A WHITE STONE AND A BLACK STONE. Ah, yes

. The classic theme established in the pilot episode reemerges here, though the significance is probably lost on us for the time being. Jack can't determine how the two died (though he does say that it looks like they've been dead for 40 or 50 years), but the good doctor is familiar enough with anatomy to know that one of them was a male and the other was a female. Locke dubs them the island's "very own Adam and Eve."

After reviewing this scene, we'd be remiss if we didn't venture some sort of guess as to who was laid to rest in the caves. After learning in the fifth season that Rose and Bernard of 1977 were living happily on their own in the jungle, I think they became the leading candidates to become 2004's skeletons. I would accept that, except that it wouldn't fit the timeframe (at most, they would've been dead less than 30 years) and we still have the mystery of the black and white stones. They might just be mere symbolism, but it could just as well be a plot device that the writers placed there so that at a later date we'd be able to figure out the skeletons' identities. I'm leading toward the latter, and I'll tell you why: in looking at what others have said about the skeletons, I came across a link to a 2007 Entertainment Weekly interview with Lost masterminds Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. When asked directly about the importance of the skeletons in the caves, here's what they said:

What is the meaning or significance of the two skeletons that Jack and Kate found in the cave of season 1?
CUSE: The answer to that question goes to the nature of the timeline of the island. We don't want to say too much about it, but there are a couple Easter eggs embedded in [the Feb. 7 episode], one of which is an anagram that actually sheds some light on the skeletons and hints at a larger mythological mystery that will start to unfold later in the season. 
LINDELOF: There were certain things we knew from the very beginning. Independent of ever knowing when the end was going to be, we knew what it was going to be, and we wanted to start setting it up as early as season 1, or else people would think that we were making it up as we were going along. So the skeletons are the living — or, I guess, slowly decomposing — proof of that. When all is said and done, people are going to point to the skeletons and say, ''That is proof that from the very beginning, they always knew that they were going to do this.''

That interview can be found in its entirety here. But that's kinda cool. It sounds like they've known who the skeletons will be all along. When I first watched this episode, I figured that the skeletons were just there so we'd know that others have been on the island. Maybe they'll turn out to be Sun and Jin? I mean, they are the focus of this episode. It'd make sense...I guess. But I guess we can look forward to yet another moment of connectivity somewhere in the sixth season. In the meantime, we should find that February 7th episode (I'm not sure which one it is--I'll have to look it up) and scour it for an anagram!

Running alongside this excitement in the caves is the bulk of the episode, which concerns itself with a brief history of Jin and Sun's relationship. We see that originally Jin seemed like a nice enough guy. It appears that he loved Sun so much that he obsequiously took a demanding and dangerous position in her father's company so that he could earn his father-in-law-to-be's marriage blessing. But the new job was the beginning of the end. The relationship became so turbulent that Sun hatched a plan to ditch Jin when they were supposed to fly together to the United States. She would lay low until everyone thought her dead, and she would be rid of both her father and Jin. But the scheme falls apart at the airport when Sun is visibly torn about what to do. Sitting on the proverbial fence, she looks over at Jin, who's smiling warmly. He's wielding a flower he's purchased for her, to boot. This apparently melts her heart, and she decides not to leave him after all. Instead of making a break for it, she boards a flight destined to crash on some bizarre island. Good choice, Sun. No, really. Good one. I guess the moral of the story is: true love conquers all, and then you board a flight and survive a horrific electromagnetic event that breaks your plane apart like a dry twig. Or something like that.

One final note concerns Charlie and Locke. It's in this episode that Charlie begins his detox from heroin addiction. Locke learns about Charlie's habit and tactfully approaches him in a one-on-one situation. Then he starts talkin' that destiny and faith stuff again, which we'll soon come to know as trademark John Locke. He says that he's certain that Charlie's guitar will show up. In fact, he knows exactly where it is, but doesn't reveal the location 'til Charlie hands over his baggie of drugs. Charlie does it, and is delighted to see that his guitar made it through the crash in one piece. I know of at least two people (won't mention names) who don't like Locke, and I can see how they might not like his approach in these scenes where he's being a bit forceful with Charlie. But, c'mon! He has good intentions! He just wants to see Charlie off the junk! There. That's all I'll say on the matter.

And the episode comes to a close as Hurley listens to Willie Nelson ask, "are you sure that this is where you want to be?" Judging by the downtrodden looks on Jack and Kate's faces, I'd say no, Willie. No, it's not.

Thanks for reading!

Sea. 1, Ep. 5: White Rabbit

Hello, hello.

Welcome to the second week of the Lost Rewatch. If you missed last week or you're slightly behind, then it's time to catch up. And short of watching the actual episodes yourself, my blog is a great place to get caught up. You can find capsules covering the first four episodes below. Don't be afraid to scroll down! But we've also got four more episodes to get through this week, so let's begin!

"White Rabbit" marks the first Jack-centric flashback episode, and along with the preceding "Walkabout," it's probably the best and most intriguing episode of the first season. We're introduced to the mysterious specter that is Dr. Christian Shephard, better known as Jack's father. Little did we know when we initially viewed this episode just how pivotal Jack's father and the strained relationship he had with his son would be in the Lost story.

Now, in getting to the episode I have one minor gripe about the opening scene that I wish to expound upon. Charlie's actions while the woman drowns out at sea will forever be puzzle me. As my wife astutely pointed out, when Charlie summons Jack to the water to help Boone and the woman that Boone is trying to rescue, he tells Jack that he doesn't swim.

Charlie doesn't swim? Really? Not at all?

If this isn't raising any red flags for other fans, then lemme just direct your attention to the third season's finale. CHARLIE SWIMS DOWN TO THE LOOKING GLASS STATION ALL BY HIMSELF SO THAT HE CAN SWITCH OFF THE SIGNAL THAT'S JAMMING THE RADIO FREQUENCIES ON THE ISLAND. Actually, prior to that, in the episode "Greatest Hits," Charlie counts his swimming lesson among his five greatest memories. Normally, I try not to be so critical of mistakes like this, especially when the writers have constructed such an enormous tale with so many different characters, but I felt that it was my duty to highlight this for others. Of course, if you choose not to believe that this was an error on the part of the writers, you could just say that the Charlie in this episode is still a junkie and that junked-up Charlie would never risk his own behind to save another person. I guess you could have it either way.

For Jack, the problems that accompany his role as leader continue to get worse in the episode. He's wracked with guilt when the woman drowns at sea, and he curtly tells Hurley and Charlie that he doesn't know what to do when they alert him to the lack of food and water left for the survivors. What's worse is that the mental and physical fatigue is beginning to take its toll on the good doctor, as Jack appears extremely worn down.

This segues into the first flashback involving Jack and his father. Our first impression of the elder Shephard is that he's a real bastard. The young, impressionable Jack is told that he doesn't have what it takes to make decisions. So much for paternal wisdom.

Back on the island, Jack's buggin' out because he keeps seeing his father, whom we later learn died in Australia. The ghost of Christian keeps walking into the jungle, and, naturally, Jack follows him. As we saw at the end of the previous episode, Christian leads his son to Locke, who was emerging from the jungle with a freshly slain boar. By the end of this episode, we see that the specter of Christian leads Jack to a freshwater source, which is obviously immensely needed given the paucity of bottled water from the 815 wreckage. So, this begs a question: if the specter of Christian Shephard is a manifestation of the Smoke Monster, like so many believe, then why does it lead Jack to food and water? I think we'll have to present the argument for Christian being the Smoke Monster at a later date, since we don't have evidence of it here in "White Rabbit," but let's run with that assumption. Does Smokey want the survivors to thrive on the island--which they eventually do--so that it can use them as pawns in its game? Is Smokey controlled by Jacob's adversary? That might explain it, since the finale of season five leads us to believe that Jacob and his adversary are playing some sort of game in which they exploit human beings to see what they'll do on the island. As always, this episode of Lost is raising more questions than it's answering, but the one burning thing we need to find out is why the specter of Christian is doing what it's doing. One last note: on the flipside, we must also remember that Jack nearly falls down a cliff into a pit of jagged rocks in the pursuit of his father. But it appears that he trips himself, and that no outside force sent him tumbling. But who saves him? JOHN LOCKE. Connection? Anyway, I suppose the nearly fatal fall is an example of Smokey's malicious intents? Kind of a weak argument if you ask me. Seems like whatever is controlling Christian was more directly responsible for the discovery of freshwater.

This episode also contains the conversation between Jack and Locke in which Locke elucidates his "destiny" position a bit further. He acknowledges that Jack's visions of his father may be a hallucination, but he offers a supernatural alternative as well. He tells Jack that he has looked into the eye of the island (WAS IT SMOKEY IN THE LAST EPISODE?) and what he saw was beautiful. Hmmmmm...this little detail appears to be increasingly important in light of what we've seen in the fifth season. How does Locke garner this information? Is it intuition? Did he literally see something revealed to him about the island? Again, I don't have answers, but this seems like it could shape up to be a crucial moment in Lost lore.

This great episode ends with the revelation that Christian suffered a massive heart attack in Sydney, and Jack was taking his body back on Flight 815 to Los Angeles to be buried. Of course, the big twist at the end here is that when Jack stumbles upon the freshwater source, he also finds Christian's coffin, and opens it up to discover that the body is gone. Truly a great OHMIGOSH moment. After seeing what happened with Locke's body this past season, I've been curious to know if we'll ever see Christian's death via flashback. This is just an odd thought I've had, but since Christian has turned out to have such a central role in some of the island's mysteries, wouldn't it make sense if we saw that before his death he was confronted by someone or something telling him of the work he was to do once he died? Again, this is just a thought I've had, but if we see a flashback of Christian's death somewhere in the sixth season, you'll have to give me some sort of credit for calling it.

Finally, Jack makes it out of the jungle and back to the beach and delivers his famous "live together, die alone" speech. Moving? Meh, maybe. But we see Jack reclaim his title of leader.

And so another episode is in the books. If this post seemed at all convoluted, I apologize. I'm a bit tired and I'm trying to get it out so I don't fall behind in the Rewatch. Tomorrow, we'll be onto the next one. And if we keep going at this pace, then January 2010 will be here before we know it. God willing.

Thanks for reading!

Sea. 1, Ep. 4: Walkabout

“Walt…do you wanna know a secret?”

This was the question John Locke gravely asked Walt in the second half of the pilot episode. In classic Lost fashion, the secret wasn’t immediately revealed. But fortunately for the audience, we only had to wait until two episodes later to find out what it was. “Walkabout” answers that question and gives us the first taste of Locke’s depressing and traumatic life before he crashed on the island. Beyond that, the fourth episode is supremely intriguing because it presents one of the first big mysteries about the island: how did John Locke regain the ability to walk? Looking back, I mark this episode and the one that follows it (“White Rabbit”) as the two installments that got me hooked on the saga. But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Let’s recap “Walkabout” first.

When first viewing “Walkabout,” it’s easy to focus solely on the dramatic revelation at the end of the episode in which the viewer learns that Locke had been paralyzed. We have no knowledge of this information during the flashbacks, so the twist at the end is quite cool (well, I remember that I enjoyed it, at least). But reviewing the episode and knowing Locke’s secret allows for a much better analysis of some other things that happen in this multi-layered chapter of the series. I didn’t remember it this way, but “Walkabout” is rich with parallels between the two ostensible leaders among the survivors: Locke and Jack. Let’s talk about that.

Locke, who up until this point had been portrayed as somewhat of an enigma and shown sparingly, features prominently in the beginning of the episode as he proposes to lead a boar hunt. By this time, the survivors had run out of food (with Hurley and Sawyer wrestling over the last bag of peanuts) and needed to address the problem. So here we get our first good glimpse at Locke, and he shows himself to be some sort of a leader. He speaks as though he has years and years of hunting experience, and he has an arsenal of knives to help convince everyone else. Even though his hunting team endures a bit of nasty business (the gash on Michael’s leg), Locke emerges from the jungle at the end of the episode dragging a slain boar. Score one for John.

Running alongside this on-island storyline is Jack’s day back at the beach. Jack makes an executive decision to burn the remnants of Oceanic 815 and the bodies inside so that any passing aircraft or ships will see the huge blaze and come rescue everyone from the island. In light of this and the other decisions he’s made since the crash, it appears that the others have recognized Dr. Shephard’s leadership abilities, and several of them approach him seeking help with their problems. Claire wants him to honor the dead at the gigantic funeral pyre. Boone wants him to talk to the lonely Rose to make sure that she’s doing okay. These constant requests become tedious for Jack and we see him transform into somewhat of a reluctant hero (although Rose later buoys his spirits by telling him that he has a nice, gentle way about him). Jack is most definitely a hero, but he is also not the perfect hero.

While it only begins to explore the complex characters of Jack and Locke, the episode solidly establishes the dichotomy of leadership on the island. What’s more is that the two opposing philosophies of each man—Locke’s faith versus Jack’s reason—are subtly introduced. The wheelchair-bound Locke tells his cocky boss that it’s his “destiny” to fly to Australia and go on the “walkabout.” He later exclaims this several times when he’s denied his spot on the walkabout because of his handicap. Conversely, I think Jack’s decision to torch the wreckage and the corpses contained within is an illustration of the coldly efficient surgeon at his best. He’s essentially arguing the case for reason: Screw the dead! We’ve gotta build a big-ass fire so we can save the rest of us! Once again, I’ll say that it’s great to see that the characters we’ve come to know and love (or hate) were written authentically from the beginning. To me, there’d be nothing worse than going back to review these early episodes and seeing something like Jack praying all the time or Locke not speaking like a hardcore fatalist. As always, the writers are to be commended!

The two other major points I want to touch upon in this episode deal further with Jack and Locke. But rather than issues of character development, they both involve two odd plot developments. First off, let’s go back to Locke’s hunt for the boar. He originally set out with Kate and Michael, but cut ties with them after the boar gored Michael and Kate escorted him back to the beach. Reflecting on his past and determined to not let others tell him what he “can’t do,” Locke continues on the boar’s trail. But before he traps and kills his prey, he has a run in with Smokey (at least I think it’s Smokey, and Lostpedia appears to confirm my suspicions). It’s difficult to say for certain, but there’s a violent rustling of the jungle growth that’s characteristic of the Smoke Monster before the camera zooms in on Locke, who appears to confront the entity. We see nothing more here, but after seeing what transpires in the fifth season this scene is sure to pique our curiosity. Interestingly, we don’t see Locke again until he emerges with the boar (a scene which I’ll address shortly), so we are left to speculate what went down between Locke and the Smoke Monster. Did Locke glimpse his future? Did Locke make contact with Mr. Loophole (that’s what I affectionately call Jacob’s adversary)? Did the powers-that-be on the island “choose” Locke during this scene? We can only speculate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this scene-we-didn’t-see is alluded to somewhere during the sixth season. What do you think about the whole thing?

Now, to revisit the scene in which Jack and Kate meet Locke coming out of the jungle with his kill. Jack sees his father for an instant before he slowly walks into the jungle. Jack pursues him and Kate, of course, follows. The two hear rustling in the leaves and brace themselves for what they’re about to confront. But instead of Jack’s father, Locke comes out with dinner in tow. Isn’t it extremely interesting that Jack’s vision of his father led the two of them to Locke? Especially when we consider that the Smoke Monster most likely presents itself to the survivors as different deceased people from their pasts? I’m not sure if this can be proved conclusively, but it’s widely regarded that this is the case. Yemi’s appearance to Mr. Eko, Christian Shephard, and Alex’s appearance to Ben in the temple are just three that come to the surface of my brain. I’m sure there are others. Anyway, the last time we saw Locke, he was confronting the Smoke Monster. And here we presumably have Smokey leading Jack and Kate to Locke. As you can see, this is madness, and it further proves that the writers had their stuff together. Well, maybe not exactly, since they still haven’t explained everything. But here we are in the fourth episode and they were dropping these humongous mind puzzles on us. How fantastic! But in hindsight, these scenes definitely raise questions about of the Smoke Monster. Why does it confront Locke? What does it have to gain by posing as dead people and manipulating the survivors? I could go on and on, as I’m sure you all could. But I won’t.

I’ll let you chew on those details for a while. We’ve reached the end of the first week of the great re-watch and I’m lovin’ the series more than ever. Again, thanks for reading. I hope you’ll continue the journey with me. For those following, I’ll probably start posting on the new batch of re-watch episodes on either Monday or Tuesday. Either way, I hope you enjoy the re-watch and discuss it along with me!

Sea. 1, Ep. 3: Tabula Rasa

“Tabula Rasa” gives us the show’s very first character-centric episode. That is, it’s the first episode in which the flashbacks focus solely on one particular character. As I’m sure you’re well aware, this Kate-centric episode creates the basic framework for storytelling: a balance of on-island events and flashbacks that help to illuminate why the characters act the way they do. So, without further ado, let’s jump into the episode that shows us how Kate Austen wound up on Oceanic Flight 815.

It was revealed in the second half of the pilot episode that Kate is a fugitive. At this point, we don’t know what she did or how she was apprehended, but she was seated next to the U.S. Marshall (Edward Mars) on Flight 815 and sporting a flashy pair of handcuffs. Of course we later learn that she was on the lam because she killed her father, who regularly beat the hell out of her mother. But that information remains a mystery in the early stages of the saga.

While in Australia, Kate took up work on a farm run by the widowed Ray Mullen. Ray tells Kate that his wife died eight months prior and that she left him with a “hell of a mortgage.” He hires Kate under-the-table because he needs help completing chores on the farm. His efficiency is hindered by a prosthetic right arm. Ray doesn’t mention how he lost his arm, but this detail about the Aussie should raise red flags in the minds of Lost fans. Although it’s purely coincidental, Pierre Chang (of the orientation video fame) also wears a prosthesis. It’s his left arm that’s missing, however. As we saw in the fifth season finale, Chang’s left arm became pinned during the incident when the electromagnetic force drew metal objects toward the drilling shaft. In some of the station orientation videos shot after the Incident, you’ll notice that he’s without his left arm; the prosthesis usually hangs at his side. Anyhow, this detail about Ray shouldn’t be scrutinized too closely, as it appears to be a coincidence, but it’s worth noting as we review these earlier episodes with the knowledge of following seasons.

As it goes, Ray eventually learns that Kate is wanted in the United States for murder. Stopping her late one night as she plans to flee, he doesn’t tell her that he knows she’s on the run and convinces her to wait until the morning so that he can drive her to a train station. But as the pair cruise down some desolate route in the Outback at daybreak, it’s revealed that he has turned her in so that he can collect the $23,000 reward to help pay his hefty mortgage. In a desperate attempt to escape, she grabs Ray’s steering wheel from the passenger seat and drives the truck off the road. But seeing that Ray is incapacitated and that the truck has caught fire, she pulls him to safety. Her oddly heroic efforts force her to stick around a little too long and lead to her capture by the Marshall. So her escape was all for naught and she’s under arrest and scheduled for extradition back to the States. And which airline do you suppose U.S. Marshalls prefer? Oceanic Airlines, apparently.

As Kate’s background unravels through the series of flashbacks, the on-island scenes in this episode continue to introduce us to the survivors of Flight 815 and explore some of their relationships. We see that Kate confides in Jack and tells him about the French distress call that the others in the “Polar bear party” agreed to keep a secret. This, of course, is something that will repeat itself often throughout the series. The cutesy—and at times, volatile—relationship between Charlie and Claire begins to take shape here as Charlie helps the mom-to-be assemble her luggage on the beach. And we see the strife between Michael and Walt as the two argue about finding Walt’s dog Vincent. Definitely not the most crucial argument between characters on the show, but it sets the trend for another one of Lost’s ever-present themes: the strained relationships between fathers and sons. Much like the “light versus dark” motif touched upon in the second half of the pilot episode, this sort of conflict appears again and again. Take for instance the interactions between Jack and his father Christian. Or how about Jin’s embarrassment over his father’s lowly livelihood as a fisherman (and to a lesser extent, his turbulent interactions with Sun’s father)? And even the genuinely good Hurley has a not-so-great rapport with his father. As another episode title suggests, all the best cowboys have daddy issues. And there sure are a whole lotta cowboys on this island.

“Tabula Rasa” marks another occasion in which the rain appears. This episode’s downpour sends the survivors on the beach scrambling for some sort of shelter, and its arrival coincides with Kate’s visit to the tent housing the ailing Marshall. His eyes flash open, connecting with Kate’s for an instant, and he summons a whole boatload of strength as he tries to strangle her. He collapses thereafter, with Jack informing Kate that the patient’s stomach has become rigid. The good Doc had said was a bad sign, and it signals the certain doom of Edward Mars. Mars later asks to be killed, a task which Kate gives to Sawyer. Sawyer shoots the Marshall in the chest, intending to hit his heart. The bullet instead punctures the Marshall’s lung, and he’s left to die an agonizingly slow death. Yikes.

The final portion of the episode shows us that Locke finds Vincent using the whistle he crafted on the beach. But rather than take credit for the job he did, he allows Michael to bring Vincent to Walt so that he can earn some parenting points. I remember when I first saw these episodes, I couldn’t figure out whether Locke was a good soul or pure malevolence. I mean, the writers sort of gave us a first impression of all the other characters, but they kept Locke mysterious for quite a while. I remember I was still having a hard time figuring him out when he was working on unearthing the hatch with Boone. So it’s interesting to review these early episodes. The final shot (following the musical montage of others on the beach) is a prelude to the Locke-centric episode that follows this one, but up until this point we only know John Locke as the reclusive backgammon man who finds Vincent. Knowing what we know now, perhaps this was the writers’ way of showing us how Locke was different from the rest; how he had the special commune with the island. I suppose the next episode does indeed show us how different Locke is! But that’s a capsule for another day (tomorrow, actually).

As always, thanks for reading! And comment away!

Pilot, Pt. 2

This capsule covers the second part of Lost’s pilot episode. To read the capsule about the first part, click here.

The second half of the pilot opens up on Jack, Kate and Charlie making their way back to the beach with the newfound transceiver. It appears that day has broken, and we can assume they spent the night out in the jungle. A brief flashback reveals Charlie’s heroin addiction, and at this point, seasoned viewers of Lost recall that the show is still introducing the different characters. It may seem slightly tedious as we review these, seeing as how we’ve been acquainted with the myriad personalities for several years now, but it also serves to remind us why Lost is such a great show. The character development that begins here does so much to drag us in so that we personally invest feelings with those whom we love and hate. Me? I love Charlie! And who doesn’t? Sure, as a strung-out rock star, he doesn’t make the greatest first impression on us. But our opinion of him rises precipitously from here.

In fact, as the second half of the pilot episode unfolds, we get a first impression of lots of the characters in addition to Charlie. We see a spoiled Shannon, the vigorous Boone, Jin’s domineering attitude toward his wife Sun, the rough-around-the-edges Sawyer, and the good-natured Hurley.

Out from all of these character introductions emerges the plot of the episode: Sayid and Kate—joined by Charlie, Shannon, Boone and Sawyer—ascend one of the island’s highest points in order to get the clearest signal possible for the transceiver they retrieved from the cockpit. But on the way up, the group runs afoul of a polar bear, which Sawyer dispatches with the handgun he recovered from the U.S. Marshall. Early on in the series, this scene delivered one of the first big head-scratchers: How the hell did a polar bear end up in such a tropical climate? Of course, we later learn about the Dharma Initiative’s research with a variety of wildlife on the island, and can safely assume that that explains the presence of a polar bear. My wife still takes issue with this scene, however, because she contends that the animal research was done on the adjacent island, which we find out about in the third season. It was there that Sawyer and Kate were imprisoned in the large bear cages. All I can say at this juncture is that I didn’t pay too much attention to this detail in the past, so I’m hoping to come up with something as the re-watch continues. If you feel you can confirm or deny the presence of polar bear research on the main island, then go ahead and shout me down in the comments section!

Meanwhile, Jack is busy at work trying to save the U.S. Marshall’s life. The Marshall—who was escorting Kate back to the United States—survived the crash, but was critically injured. Jack’s not doing so well at reviving the Marshall, but we see his devotion to fixing problems (even if they’re seemingly impossible). Oh, and Hurley passes out while trying to help Jack pull out the piece of shrapnel embedded in the Marshall’s torso. A classic example of Hurley functioning as comic relief.

Cutting back to the transceiver group, they make it to the top of the peak and finally get a signal. Just not the sort of signal they were hoping for. As we all know by now, it’s the voice of Danielle Rousseau, whose ship arrived at the island 16 years prior. Shannon translates the French and says that something “killed them all.” I’ll admit that this was an intriguing mystery, and I was quite excited when we finally saw what happened to her crew during a fifth season flashback. Smokey got the best of ‘em. I also love this scene because at the very end, Charlie delivers one of my favorite lines from the series: “Guys…where are we?”

Aside from the crises of the dying Marshall, the encounter with the polar bear, and the ominous French distress call, this episode features the immensely interesting scene involving John Locke and Walt. Walt comes upon Locke playing backgammon, and Locke explains the history and concept of the game to Walt, who has never played it. In his explanation, Locke emphasizes that backgammon is played between two people who are represented by either white or black pieces. Now, far be it from me to insult anyone’s intelligence, but the whole “black versus white” or “light versus dark” thing goes way back in recorded history/literature and is essentially a representation of opposing forces, or “good versus evil,” if you will. The exchange between Locke and Walt is short, but this scene turns out to be quite noteworthy, as it establishes the whole idea of opposing forces which are omnipresent throughout the Lost saga. Just off the top of my head, there’s: reason versus faith; Jack versus Locke; Jack versus Sawyer; the Dharma Initiative versus the Others. Suffice it to say that there are lots of examples. This whole concept of black and white actually comes together quite nicely when one thinks about the opening scene of the fifth season finale, the most recently aired episode. Although it’s unclear as to which one could possibly represent good or evil, Jacob—garbed in a white tunic—is approached by his presumed adversary, who wears (you guessed it) a black tunic. The two proceed to have what seems like a friendly conversation until the adversary in black asks Jacob, “do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?” Opposing forces? You bet your bottom. Anyway, as we continue with these episode reviews, we’d do well to note the appearance of opposing forces, whether real or symbolic. The writers went out of their way to make it a theme from the beginning, so we should naturally pay attention to it.

Thus concludes the recap of the pilot episode. Next time we’ll be moving on to the first of the flashback episodes with the Kate-centric “Tabula Rasa.” As always, thanks for reading! And feel free to comment. All types of feedback are welcomed. Just try to keep it PG, everyone. :-P