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Lost has finally returned, and this episode was an odd mix of satisfaction and, at the end, frustration.
It satisfied because there was actually some sense of forward movement in the story. It felt like something was actually happening. The “rescuers” will soon be coming, there are actual conversations with someone on the freighter via the uber-satellite phone, the castaways learn that Charlie has died and that the rescuers may actually have some nefarious purpose related to the island.
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The “flash forwards” are here in full force, showing Hurley freaking out for some unknown reason that is revealed near the end of the episode, and I did NOT like what was revealed at all. I’ll refrain from major spoilers in this article, but feel free to discuss details of the episode, spoilers and all in the comments.
What more did I like? Hurley is finally starting to “man up” and it fits him. The death of Charlie hit him hard and that combined with his rescue of those on the beach last episode has caused him to grow (not physically, although that seems to be happening as well). It was a very Hurley-centric episode and one thing that bothered my wife after a while were all the extreme close-ups on his face. I’m sorry, but a dirty, un-shaven, nasty hair overweight face that close up on a big screen got to her after a while. 
So what wasn’t satisfying?
The fact that just as we finally get to meet someone from the ship, the episode is OVER. I was waiting the entire hour to see some interaction with them or some sort of reveal, and just when it happens - BAM! Tune in next week.
Yes, I realize this is episodic television… but the soap opera techniques get to me. At least on 24, although every episode ends with a cliffhanger, during each episode we see plenty of significant things happening with the story.
Overall, it felt good to be back into the show, although it was in the nick of time. It was to the point for me that if it never returned I would have just forgotten about it - and I think that remains a problem for the series with the upcoming short seasons and long hiatus periods in between.
So, let’s hear it, folks: Did you love it or hate it?
35 Comments
Loved it, It made me feel like it did in season one. It just felt great to get back to the characters I loved. Also I’m glad that Locke isn’t like viewed as some crazy guy as much as he was in the end of the last episode. And, I don’t really get what you mean about revealed, if your talking about something specific, tell me, maybe I missed something.
My favorite part though was how that the show put forth that, when the survivors got back, they had to get their stories straight and lie to not get in trouble for things. Well, that may be the reason. They may have had to swear not to from the peopel who rescued them or whatever.
Oh and about the whole rescuer thing, if next week they don’t get saved or taken off the island in some way shape or form, I may stop watching. It can be done, but I’m serious, as a huge fan and with fewer episodes than normal, I can’t put up with this crap
It was amazing. I was actually surprised that the folks from the boat arrived in the first episode. I expected them to come on like episode 3-4. Just hoping that this damn strike ends soon so that we can have all 16 episodes.
I thought it was great. To me it felt like I was back in Season 1: Episode 1 all over again with that feeling of not knowing what the hell is going on.
This show reminds me of the X-files in a way that the overall conspiracy will never be discovered.
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You know why, because once its revieled the show is over… Doah!
yummmy yum.
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Personally I hate Lost and IMO think its hardened crap on piece of string dangeling in front of the horse that (likes to eat crap) are the veiwers…
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IMO…. Of course.
Now bring on the hate mail….
Somebody let me know when they start fighting over toothpaste and toliet paper.
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Lost the tolietpaper wars.
All there teeth are so clean and that fat guy hasn’t “lost” a pound. Wtf? Folks. That fat guy alone would go thru 3 rolls of toliet paper a week. Supplies arnt that believable.
Surma, on the “revealed” thing: That although Charlie is DEAD, he’s NOT. And did you notice that in the exterior scene at the mental institution, another patient saw Charlie as well? That, along with the slap in the face indicates that he’s not just a hallucination.
You know, I can handle sci fi or the supernatural on a series just fine. In fact I love those genres. My problem with “Lost” is that I think they need to PICK ONE. There needs to be one over-arching explanation for what’s going on and I just don’t see that happening.
Of course if at the end of this whole thing the writers come up with some brilliant concept that I didn’t foresee, I’ll happily eat my words.
Vic
Harsh opinions indeed. Hurley rocked last night.
He was so badass when he told Desmond he would tell Claire. Then in the next beat so vulnerable when he lost it in front of her.
Great acting and great writing.
Excellent kick off to Season 4.
Yeah Vic, the show is very heavy with Producers and writers,…
Stringing viewers along seems to be their methodology.
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I’m sure if they (the producers) don’t see cancellation coming the fans won’t get any closure.
Even a film prob won’t give you any answers only more questions. (X-files).
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Really kinda slaps the face of the fanbase every week IMO.
It was awesome
Vic, what the hell did you want?
Tell me how you would of ended it…with a 10 minute conversation with the freighter guy? YAAA…that would of flowed well with that episode and that sure could of had a good ending
don’t complain about stupid things, that’s how this show is operated, you’ve had 3 full seasons to figure it out yet ppl keep complaining about the same things. It’s really getting tiring.
Your arguement is like complaining that there’s too many aliens in Star wars and Star Trek…or too much sci-fi…wait what?
That’s a good point. There are too many aliens in Star Wars.
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They even thru the “Wolfman” in that Cantina scene.
Dosnt that screw with Wolfman canon?
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Wolfy fans out there where’s the outrage!!!???
Actually what I would have liked to have seen was the arrival of a bunch of people from the freighter about 3/4 of the way through the episode, with it ending on the castaways finding out that they were bad guys… fade to black.
Of course with the pace of this show it’ll probably be 3 more episodes until we hit that point.
And if fans DIDN’T complain the show would go on for a couple years longer than they have planned and we’d still be doing entire episodes about one of Jack’s tattoos.
Vic
Vic, I think it is pretty clear that Charlie is really dead. Charlie says that himself in the episode. As for the other guy who saw him, he was a mental patient as well so it is likely he was delusional. Last night Charlie was like Dave was in Season 2; Hurley’s hallucination. Not to mention the actor who plays Charlie has said in interviews that the character is really dead and he is leaving the show but he would like to come back once a while and do flashbacks or guest spots.
As for the ending. I think they would have done everyone a huge injustice had they brought the freighter people early in the episode. It would have cut the time devoted to everyone’s reaction to Charlie’s death which would have neither been fair nor realistic. We need to remember that Lost is primarily a character based show and if they start cutting important character moments (like Hurley and Claire mourning Charlie, confrontation between Locke and Jack) to try and move the story faster the show is going to lose what made it so popular in the first place.
@steve martin: No offense buddy but you are being a jerk. The producers have announced that the show will be ending after 48 more episodes( 47 after last night’s) so we will get our answers by the end of the 48th episode. As for ‘the fat guy not losing weight’ they have addressed it not once, not twice but three times on the show. Firstly they have been on the island only 90 days and on top of that they have no shortage of food with the DHARMA drops. Also if you look at the actor’s pictures from the pilot and compare them with the latest episode it is rather clear that he has lost some weight.
loved the episode….only problm was that the beginning felt kinda forced and fake….i mean c’mon do we really need to see hurley doing a cannonball underwater….after that tho i thot it was the perfect way to kick off the perfect season of the perfect show
Personally I don’t like the fact that the viewers have had to sit through 3 years of episodes just to get through 90 days of them on the island. I wish a LOT more time had transpired for them.
Vic
I have tried to get into it ,But Lost just seems like one big tease to me.
While I recognize the appeal, that is exactly what turns me off about the show. I watch more because I don’t want to miss something good than because I enjoy it.
Vic
Vic, we’ve seen more than 90 days. The 90 days is the centerpiece, the crisis point, for the characters’ past and present. Abrams (or maybe the clip piece narrators) used the word “tapestry” last year. That’s a great way to express how the traumas of the past, the experience on the island, and what happens in the future (all being relative), relate.
For those who didn’t like Cloverfield because of it’s apparent incompleteness, welcome to Lost where the fabric of the story is slow-woven and the picture appears not sequentially, but as you stand back from it…and maybe blur your eyes just a bit. Then come back close and notice the little details. Like Jack’s tattoos.
I want to know this: What would ever happen to kind-hearted Hurley to turn him into the kind of guy ignore the calls of his friends (”They need you”)?
I thought it was a great season opener.
Either Charlie is a ghost, the mental patient was another delusion of Hurley’s which is why he saw Charlie or ol’ smoky is able to leave the island now.
And the preview indicted that the next episode will bring some people from the freighter to the island.
“I’m sure if they (the producers) don’t see cancellation coming the fans won’t get any closure.”
Yes, that’s why they’re finishing the show up in 3 more seasons. They aren’t going to come up with an ending, in that time frame.
Mike V, are you sure Lost is contracted for 7 seasons?
Yeah, I’m sure. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117964371.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
Plus, I recall hearing JJ Abrams say there is a definite end for the show on Opie & Anthony.
3 more years of Lost,,,
Thanks for the warning Mike.
aaaaauuuuuuhhhhhh.
You probably like Heroes don’t you.
Yea Mike I do, how was that derived?
Even loved season2. Ooohhhh!!! The shock hahaa!
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Don’t get me wrong Mike , I hate Lost, but not your opinion… I respect it.
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I totally respect your loyalty to the show…
I’m just dissing it to lightin up things. Nothing personal.
(Don’t get me wrong I hate it) but ya know.
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We all have our fav’s.
Hell I like Star Trek Voyager too.
And I own the Star Trek Nemesis dvd.
Wow, your glutton for punishment, owning Star Trek: Nemesis.
Haha! , Mike, you have to admit it had some great space battles.?!?
I don’t even remember.
The story’s unfolding slowly, but powerfully. The key was the “box” Benjamin spoke of: A force that conjures up whatever (or whoever) you could imagine.
Our friends have either tapped into, or have been victims of, this power. Characters from conflicted pasts materialize.
What do you do with a force that translates emotional energy into reality? The same thing Vulcans do with emotion. Harness it, isolate it, disable it. And if you have any sense, you HIDE it. (I think Ben is sincere about that, if nothing else.)
Yeah the shots of Shinzons ship knocking the Enterprise E out of Warp was breathtaking.
This Box concept is right out of Twilight Zone/Outer Limits.
Nagging questions-
Why did Locke apparently look smokey (”the island” he later says) in the eye?
Why was Ekko able to look at smokey once, but then later was killed? (He struck me as the only one to resolve his past.)
Why was Walt released? (If he truly was.) Could he channel the island’s power? Was he a threat to it? Did he come under its control?
Minutia like the white and black rocks (Season 1) may never be explained, but see a great symmetry in the story arc. Vic, I think a pivotal episode title answers your concern: Man of Science, Man of Faith. I think the show is a Mobius Strip of science fiction AND metaphysics.
Ha ha Steve! Why are you the heartless cynic and I’m the drooling fan? Did we get switched like in Farscape?
Very insightfull posts Jim!
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We have been duplicated like in season 3 of Farscape. Whata great show!
Could Matthew Abaddon be the smoke monster? Look at this screencap when he walks out of the door. http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage-1364-355.html
That doesn’t look like a human’s shadow. It looks like it is smokey. A quick wikipedia search shows that the word Abaddon is a version of the Hebrew word Avaddon, meaning “destruction”. Smoke Monster has caused its fair share of destruction. It would also explain Charlie as we have been given hints that the hallucinations happening on the island may be manifestations of the monster and with these island hallucinations more then one person can see them (ex the horse that both Kate and Sawyer saw) and they can also be felt, it would explain why the other mental patient was able to see Charlie. Could it be possible that whatever happened on the island caused the smoke monster to somehow escape the island?
Nate, I’ll have to watch the scene again. I’ll trust Charlie’s discernment that he was more than an attorney.
An easter egg I noticed: Hurley’s vision of Charlie swimming towards him ended with “They need you” written on Charlie’s open hand. (Clean-shaven Charlie said this to Hurley later).
Maybe someone could list the apparitions. Those I recall were on balance neutral: Jack’s father, Kate’s Horse, Walt, Hurley’s imaginary friend. OK, Locke’s father was not very neutral.
Have the apparitions served as lightning rods for our friends to release/overcome their sadness, fear, anger, betrayal, shame?
This week’s clip show narrator (Michael Emerson/Ben) confirmed that the island is a catalyst for our friends to confront unresolved issues.
To what end?
Why did the clip show have such a different sound effect for the recap of the “monster’s” first appearance? Also, the clip version seemed downplayed and parenthetical.
I loved the original scene–the rustling jungle, the snapping trees, the mechanical fifties-style “work break” whistle!
What's your opinion? Leave a comment!