Lost Recap: 'LA X,' Parts 1 and 2
It's the beginning of the end on Lost, and last night's two-hour season premiere "LA X" (written by showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) started laying the groundwork for Lost's final run of episodes. It was packed full of revelatory moments, big questions, nasty shocks, and confounding choices; in other words, it was 100% Lost. Here are three things that worked like a dream, and three things that left me scratching my head:
WHAT WORKED
The Smoke Monster Reveal
There had been enough clues last season that Jacob's adversary was the smoke monster, so it was smart of Cuse and Lindelof to get that revelation out of the way almost immediately with a scene where the new Locke transforms into Smokey, thrashes all his enemies around, then bon mots to Ben, "I'm sorry you had to see me like that." I'm not sorry -- in a season where the stakes seem to be growing ever greater for our heroes, it's good to know that the primary villain is actually something that's been around since the pilot.
Jack and Locke's Alternate Meeting
Some of Lost's strongest scenes have been confrontations between Jack and Locke, and they've been incredibly hard to come by over the last few seasons. How nice, then, to get a significant scene between the two men in Lost's alternate timeline -- and what's more, to see them actually relate to one another in a way that the tumult on the island never allowed them to do. Once upon a time, it seemed inconceivable that Lost would actually kill Locke off before the end of the series, so one of the primary pleasures of the reset timeline will be checking in with one of the show's most iconic characters.
Continuity Porn
As soon as I saw Cindy the flight attendant on Jack's reset flight, I crossed my fingers that she'd show up on the island, as her disappearance-cum-Stockholm-Syndrome there was an intriguing early-series development that totally dropped off the radar. Sure enough, Cindy did appear in the Temple -- alongside Ana-Lucia's wards Zach and Emma! -- and while we still don't know what it was that convinced Cindy to go over to the Others, at least it was nice to see that she hasn't been forgotten.
Pages: 1 2
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
I have to say that the original main characters are BORING and I wish they'd go away, except for the new and improved Evil John Locke. Kate needs to be locked up for being a sociopath; Jack is a boring yutz who shaves his chest; Sawyer is an irritating romance novel cover man and does anyone really give a shit about Sun/Jin/Frank/Miles?
The only reason to watch this show is for Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn. For once, the Emmys got it right and gave awards to the best actors on a show.
I care about Frank! He and Sun need to knock boots already. You know something's already gone on between the two of them when they were hanging out together in Ben's old house last season and Frank suddenly appeared with two more buttons undone in the next scene.
I've watched every episode from the beginning, and I still don't know what's going on. It's thematic overload and just too much information to process. I believe that the creators spent too much time in the early seasons on dozens of plot strands that were insignificant and irrelevant to where we are now (the second island, the zoo, the code that had to be keyed in, etc) At least we learned last night what the Dharma Initiative was trying to exploit -- the life-restoring water. How many episodes will it take before Sawyer digs up Juliet's body and throws her in the pool?
More Desmond, brutha!
Yes! This!
I think the correct term is Alterna-Flashes.
And, as you point out, the thing is with what-if stories, they are interesting in a way, but ultimately don't matter. So hopefully they will find a way to make them matter.
I spent six months in a para-military academy training everyday....the only workout we did was a daily run of 3-5 miles in the morning 3 days a week. The other to morinings we did plyometrics. In the evening we would either run some more or lift weights, often throwing in sets of pull-ups or sit-ups inbetween sprint sets. No herbal supplements needed.