Lost: 3-7-07
Spoilers on, of course.
Tonight’s episode: “John, don’t touch!” or “What does this button do?”
The answers, they come quickly sometimes, don’t they? It wasn’t very long ago that “Lost” dropped the mystery of Eyepatch Man/Comrade Fury on us, and now a goodly chunk of that is basically solved. Sure, there are several more specifics that dovetail into that (Why did they pick Mrs. Clue/Clugh/Klugh/Corpse to be the one to hang there? After the fire, after all the rain, will that base still be The Flame? And oh yeah, who the FUCK are The Others again?!), but they quickly disposed of that being an overarching concern.
In terms of the flashback, while it does chart some valuable growth for Sayid and explains his reluctance to execute Eyepatch Man/Comrade Fury, it didn’t really pack the heavy weight of revelation that I expect next week’s episode to touch (I can almost feel Ben telling Jack, “A sister . . . your feelings have betrayed her as well . . .”). Of course, the major lingering detail is the cat. Like Kate’s horse and other pieces before it, there’s much more significance there. Obviously, the cat being named Nadia is a big deal (for those who forgot, that’s the name of Sayid’s missing love), but its appearance goes more toward the notion that the environment of the island creates a pastiche of reality from stray thoughts or predetermined bits of programming.
The beach subplot was an enjoyable diversion. I had to love Sawyer asking “Who the hell are you?” of Nikki (though I think that “Who’s the chick with the rack?” would have also been in character for James). And it certainly makes sense that Hurley would have played Ping-Pong in the institut–place he hung out for a while. A general lack of beach action doesn’t bother me as a much it does some viewers; I frankly liken it to “The Lord of the Rings”, wherein we have a big cast and occasionally have to spend some time with Merry in palm trees before cutting back to the Big Action.
I think Lost is building well as it moves toward what’s actually the second half of Season 3. Honestly, I think that a lot of ground has been covered and that a lot of answers are there for the taking. I think it’s pretty clear that The Others predate the Dharmas on the island, and it seems to me that that’s where the issues of time travel and recursive loops of reality (and those damn bodies in the cave!) will come into play.
Thoughts, kids?
