Month: February 2009

And to think that I couldn’t wait for this episode to be over so “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” would come fast. This episode repeatedly hit me completely by surprise – like a drive-by on a foggy night, or that uncle with his baseball bat. Or, you know, something less creepy.

The Episode…

So how do you tell a story like this one? You need to take seven people and get them to reunite and start working on a greater goal. The problem is: these people are all over the place and have no reason to help the one that’s trying to reunite them in the first place. You give them their own reasons for wanting to go back. Which means you have to tell their stories. Which means you actually have to take time to do so. LOST just wants those people back on the island, so what do they do? They just throw everyone on the plane in the most suspicious circumstances ever (Kate losing Aaron, Ben bloody and beaten – again, Hurley with a guitar, Sayid with – get this – a sky marshall, oh and let’s not forget that Latino that has absolutely nothing to do with this all which makes it extra suspicious). And then you casually hint: “oh, them? We’ll tell you about them later.” It seems so logical while I’m writing it, but it rocked me off my feet.

This episode had so many little things: Jack waking up in the jungle, pilot-style, beardless Lapidus, and last but not least the wonderfully executed tension surrounding Locke’s suicide note. They could have made it long, pages long, but – in typical LOST style – they opted for “less is more”: one sentence that cut through my (and Jack’s) bones. John made some questionable decisions at times, but it looks like he’s finally starting to get to Jack. Now I’m sure that in the next episode, we’ll be seeing Locke at his lowest.

There were some brilliant performances in this episode. I was shocked when Ben – who displayed another layer of emotions we didn’t think he had – called Jack, bathing in blood, scared. I was moved when Jack was putting on Locke’s shoes (nice to see the tennis shoes being explained). I screamed when Desmond yelled how he lost four years of his life by listening to Hawking – I was hoping they wouldn’t forget. And when they all came together on that airplane… I couldn’t wait to see it crash. Which it didn’t.

The Questions…

Question 3 appears to be resolved. Everyone – except for Aaron, thank God; and Desmond, damn you God – gets back. We don’t know how yet, except for the fact that they went by airplane. This episode also made me ponder about Question 6 – whether our crew ended up on the island by accident. We always thought they did (because Desmond didn’t push the button) but if they have to recreate the conditions of their own crash in order to get back to the island, doesn’t that mean that those conditions might have caused the first one in the first place? …My head hurts.

In all…

I think this episode – and probably also the next – will be the middle ones of this season. They provide the starting track for the rest of the season, with everyone back on the island and with bigger goals to be accomplished. This episode was very, very low on complicated mindfucks – in comparison to the first five – but it delivered a more than solid character arc with an unexpected … well, start, seeing how they told their story. This was truly the best season five episode yet. I can’t wait until the next!

Favourite Quote:
John Locke: “I wish you had believed me.”

They weren’t kidding!

The Episode…

Let’s get this out of the way first: poor, poor Charlotte. Sure, she was my least favourite character of the freighter folk, but to see her die… That was really, really sad. A great performance by Rebecca Mader, and by her make-up team who made her look half past dead (nice contrast with the
flaming hair, by the way). I was kind of starting to hope that no one would die anymore, seeing how all characters are extremely engaging and interesting. Guess my hope was in vein.

Last week’s question was kind of anwered (or: I figured out a coherent answer to it). If they’re holding it, it stays. That’s why the rope broke on Locke – Sawyer grabbed it and the top part flashed along with him. Simple and clean. Speaking of which: I’m calling it now. In “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” – in two weeks – we will see the return of John Locke in the wheelchair. I mean, the man had his leg bones break through his flesh, that can’t be good. The island giveth and taketh? If that’s not the case, it is great irony, and a nice piece of storytelling.

Christian couldn’t help Locke up. Does that mean he can’t interact with the world of the living? Why was he holding little Aaron back in Season 4? Or was it that Locke had to find his own way? I loved seeing Christian again – John Terry is a great actor, and his character might not get a lot of screentime, but when he does… Another call: Locke will reincarnate just like Christian did when he returns to the island with the Oceanic Six.

The Questions…

Now we know what’s up with Charlotte. Shame there’s no flashback – but seeing how we’ll be seeing her younger self later in the season, I wouldn’t quite forget about her just yet. In the end, we found out rather little about the freighter folk, but I did make two interesting observations. First: the monster is “just” a security system for that temple (THE temple, by the way?). Second: did the crew get sick, like Rousseau said back in Season one? They did seem… brainwashed or something. An interesting thought worth pondering.

In all…

I really liked this episode. There was a lot of moving forward islandwise, and my fear of having the flashes on the island used as an all-too convenient plot device seemed exaggerated, seeing how Locke already left the island and the flashes might stop altogether now. The story’s moving along, and I think that starting from the next episode, things will switch into an even higher – but more intelligible – gear.

Favourite Quote:
Daniel: So…you speak any other languages?
Charlotte: Just Klingon.

So you think you’ve got it all figured out. So you glance at the title and you know what the episode’s going to be about. Then the last five minutes take that title and completely turn it around. And I couldn’t be happier that they did.

The Episode…

I’m not the biggest fan of Kate and Jack. They’ve never truly convinced me (see my review of Something Nice Back Home back in Season 4), and always felt a bit puberescent – too simple to be an interesting love story. For those wondering: yes, the same thing goes for Sawyer and Kate in my opinion. However, this week’s episode was a step in the right direction. When Jack knelt next to Kate’s car and the two exchanged glances, you could see the core of what their relationship is about: they are two broken people who understand each other through and through, but have been through so much that things between them are simply broken beyond repair. That one moment showed that – congratulations, we’ve gone a step in the right direction.

What the fuck moment of the week: Jin’s alive and has once again shipwrecked and wound up with others – this time Danielle’s crew. It’s finally time to find out about Montand and his fricken arm! Hurrah! Danielle looks quite normal; I guess killing your crew and husband and then having your baby stolen by Ben Linus takes the sanity out of you. As opposed to the Tunesian French in Confirmed Dead in Season 4, this French sounded very good. I’m very curious to see where they go with this!

After every episode, Cake Sensei and me try to find the sense in the little things. These talks tend to get longer with every episode into season five. It is dawning on me that people seem to grasp the concept of time travel used on the show less and less. What Cake Sensei and me have a hard time understanding, though, is why some objects seem to flash while others don’t. The camp flashed away because it hadn’t been built yet. Same with the disappearing explosion of the hatch. But what with Sawyer’s rifle from 1954? Locke’s compass? The catamaran? They all stayed? Is it because those objects are currently being used? Especially the catamaran is a bit of a strange case in my opinion. I hope this gets cleared up soon – it all feels a bit too convenient.

Oh, and by the way: I’m calling it right now. The people shooting at our Losties in the catamaran… where our very own losties. They were shooting at themselves.

The Questions…

Nothing much this week, but next week will be all about question 7 – Rousseau’s expedition.

In All…

A nifty episode. It’s good to see everything come together: the Oceanic Six are all in the same place again and the people on the island are slowly but surely starting their move to the Orchid station. Seeing how the next episode will feature Jin’s adventures with the French crew, I don’t think the story will advance much in the next episode though…

Favourite Quote:
Sawyer: Thank you lord! …I take that back!

The Episode…

Jeez, what an episode. Let’s make a (non-exhaustive) list of things that were absolutely insane reveals. Charles Widmore (who will henceforth always be known as Jonesey in my book) on the island? Richard Alpert being told to be present at John Locke’s birth? The dark past of Daniel Faraday? The Others speaking Latin? Desmond and Penny having a baby? Or maybe: there is a huge fucking hydrogen bomb on the island?!

One of the things that stuck with me troughout the episode was how impressive the work of some actors on this show is. Penny and Desmond – even though they are permanently together now – share this inexplicable chemistry together, and that is not only due to the daring script move of getting them back together but also due to the fact that Henry Ian Cusik and Sonya Walger are both great, emotional actors. The same goes for Daniel Faraday: Jeremy Davies does things with this role that are so unconventional and in my opinion tiring (for the actor) that he puts the role on an entirely new level. Every other sentence and its portrayal is simply awesome.

I was also happy to see Richard Alpert show up again. The compass thing is freaky: Richard gave it to Locke in the first episode, after having received it from Locke back in 1954 (so we know now). Has the compass been in a timeloop? where did it come from? Maybe it exists outside of time – kind of like Richard Alpert I guess. Richard seemed incredibly hostile in this episode, more than otherwise. I think we are missing a piece of the puzzle here – maybe Faraday and the rest of the Losties already met the Others before that moment?

The Questions…

Finally! A little closure on one of the freighter folk (Question 4)! We now know a little bit more about Faraday’s increasingly dark past. It’s obvious that he didn’t hurt that girl on purpose, though. If we read between the lines, we can also figure out some new info on Ben and Charles. Maybe Charles didn’t agree with the other Others anymore, got banished from the island and then tried finding it again? Maybe he started the Dharma initiative to do so? A few pieces of this puzzle are still missing but we are starting to see the bigger picture.

In all…

How do you judge an episode that was over way too fast? Even though I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire hour and loads of stuff got revealed, I kind of got the feeling that things were only starting when they
flashed away from 1954 and Charlotte went bloody-nosed. I would say that the next episode will bring solace, but I know it won’t: they’re gone from 1954, and we will have to wait until they
flash back to it to find out how this story continues. Shame. But hey, we’ve got some off-island people too that are craving for our attention!

Favourite Quote:
Daniel: If I try anything{what, you’re gonna – you’re gonna shoot me? Is that right? Yeah, that would be perfect because, of course, rifl
e fire right next to – what would you call this – hydrogen bomb? Yes, fantastic idea. Really… inspired.