Thursday, November 9, 2006

TAGS Lost

Rations

I'm down to rationing entries, rationing energies. And because I doubt there will be cause to mention ABC's hit series Lost before the third season picks up again on February 7, I need for last night's highly anticipated Fall Finale, "I Do," to tide me over for several more weeks. Granted, this entry is a day late, but Jeff asked, "What? No Lost commentary?" Here it is, delayed to fill up the time between now and early February (Is that right? We'll see the Colts-Bears Super Bowl before another new episode?)

First off, last night's Kate-centric episode was a real heart-warmer, overflowing with romance. In the backstory, Kate, er...Monica, bought groceries for taco night, then dashed to a phone booth (carrying the groceries in the rain) to call the agent on her fugitive trail and plead with him to discontinue his pursuit of her. No luck. The timer (purchased to get the tacos just right?) went off, and she ended the call so it would not be traced. What's the point of this backstory? Hard to say. It stirs up questions about her loyalties, sensitivities, trustworthiness (and in a peculiar twist, perhaps even her fertility, though that's unclear); the deep-down criminality was off-set by a compassionate and attached Monika(te) who wished to be forgiven for past grievances. Also, Kate's cool with marriage, still married (presumably), and vulnerable, as is Sawyer, to sins of the flesh.

Jack committed a different sin of the flesh when he slipped the scalpel gently into Ben's exposed kidney (liver?). And this led up to the climactic and suspenseful endpoint of the episode. Is Jack willing to let Ben die? Maybe he is. The folk geography of the island is throwing a wrench in the works. Jack knows he's at the water's edge because of the dangerous gusher that foiled his escape attempt a few weeks ago. And Kate thinks, based on Sawyer's explanation, that they're on a separate, second island. Their bearings are all off because the Others randomly drape burlap bags over the heads of our Lost friends. Still, it seems like they would've known whether they boarded a boat after last season's finale. They were on a dock, after all, when their heads were covered. I'm beginning to think that the Hydra (the aquarium station where they're held, yeah?) is not far from the Others' small village. Accessible only by boat? Doubtful. So while it's up in the air about whether we're seeing one island or two, it's not entirely clear how Ethan and Goodwin arrived on the respective crash sites so quickly (unless the village is on the one island, and the Hydra hatch or prison-island is some distance removed). In the episode's tense closing scene, it seems like Kate would go ahead and take the chance, split from the scene, and call Jack on the walky-talky after scoping out the surrounding terrain, except that she's now sweetly endeared to James.

Yet another oddity: Jacob's list. Is Jacob an Other name for Ethan Rom? One of Eko's victims during those early days on the beach? Probably not. I don't think we've met Jacob yet, and we have every reason to believe he's closer to the brainworks than Ben and his grubby cohort.

A few other stumpers:

  • What've Rose and Bernard been up to lately?
  • What ever happened to the pack of barefooted kids (including the ones nabbed from the Tailies)?
  • Why did Jack take his surgical gloves off?
  • How many more scenes will we have to endure where one member on the side of good is in jeopardy thereby forcing another member on the side of good to concede (a gun, a rock, a lethal grip, etc.)?
  • Explain the large stone relic (the foot of some statue) from the season two finale?
  • Who will be tuning in to Day Break? Who will be tuning in to Day Break? Who will be tuning in to Day Break?

Feel free to add to the list. I have to end. I think my optical mouse is on the fritz. Maybe it has something to do with this being EWM's diablo entry.

Bookmark and Share Posted by at November 9, 2006 11:05 PM to Lost
Comments

Who are the two irritating newcomers? Are they really solely their for exposition, or did the plane crash make them a bit "touched" in the head, incapable of normal conversation, only able to produce asides about previous happenings on the island that no one in their immediate vicinity needs?

Oh, and did Ecko die because of his DUI in Hawaii, too? Who is the moralist writer that is so scared by Driving under the influence that compelling characters must die for their actorly indiscretions?

Posted by: jenwingard at November 9, 2006 11:31 PM

and in a peculiar twist, perhaps even her fertility

Seems important, given all the fertility issues (Claire, Sun, the Others' need for children, the son/father motif).

I do like your point about your boat. How did they get to this supposed other island? If by boat, they would know. If not, then they would also know that there is another way - even if they don't know what it looks like or where it is. Perhaps a tunnel? Perhaps connected to the cable Said found in the first season?

Seems to me the show is getting caught in a trap, and doesn't know where to go. Either stick with "the world is made of patterns and connections" or shift to "the world is a division of good and evil." Maybe some kind of combo is in store for the rest of this season.

The nerds at Lostpedia have their say here too...

Posted by: jeff at November 10, 2006 9:05 AM

I hope the newcomers (plot diluters, let's call 'em) are little more than bear food left over for an upcoming episode. I have no interest in their if-you're-just-joining-us dialogue lite. Come to think of it, I'd have traded both of them--oh heck, Charlie, too--in exchange for keeping Eko around longer.

The cable does seem to be a likely connection to the Hydra station, Jeff. Of course, if you're right (as I fear you might be) that the show is trapped in its own inconsistencies and paradoxes, there no telling whether all of the teaser elements from past episodes have a relationship to what we're watching now. That'd be unfortunate. I haven't followed Lostpedia, but what I saw when I just checked it out was impressive, detailed.

Posted by: Derek at November 10, 2006 11:12 PM