Stranger in a Strange Land After last week's apparent return to form episode, I was really looking forward to this week's installment of
Lost.....only to come away pretty much disappointed with the whole exercise.
I like Jack's character. I've enjoyed watching his development and backstory from the beginning. But did we really need an entire episode to deal with what we already know about him--Jack is a "great man" who will often shun that responsibility and the burdens of leadership and greatness the world thurts upon him. Whether or not that stems from some issue of wanting to somehow get his father's approval and never getting it, I'm not exactly sure. But the flashbacks here and the episode itself didn't cover much, if any new ground or give us any new insights into Jack. If anything, it felt like they were trying to have a cool reason to have Bai Ling guest star on the show, what with her being in all those deleted scenes from the last
Star Wars movie.
And we got more of the Sawyer/Kate drama, which is rapidly starting to test my patience. And this is me, the great Kate fan talking here. So, they go back to our island and Sawyer decides that his night with Kate was "oh you're going to die" pity sex. Which maybe it was and maybe it wasn't. Or maybe it's just Kate isn't happy with what she has but wants what she can't have. Or maybe this whole love triangle is just being forced on us when there are lots of other interesting plotlines this show could and should be following. For example, we've seen next to nothing of the other members of the castaways for what seems like ages. Which must be great for the actors playing them since you get paid, get to live in Hawaii and have to do virtually no work while the Big Three (as I'm calling them now) get the lion's share of the show time.
I like the Big Three--I've said it before and I'll keep defending them. But it's getting harder and harder to do when they're becoming the show's only focus and neglecting the plethora of other interesting characters that I also signed up to see.
So, I was frustrated with the episode. Because while we got some answers, did we really learn anything important?
I guess we did. We found out what Jack's tatoos say (yeah, I was losing sleep on that one) and we learned where they came from. We found out the island that we've been holding everyone captive on isn't really the Other's home. Which that one is a real head-scratcher and a half. What is the purpose of this island and why did everyone wander over to it?
That said, I did like how Jack tried to play everyone. He tries to fool everyone into thinking he lied about Juliet's overtures to kill Ben to save her life. I'm wondering how much of the apparent romantic interest Jack is showing is real and how much of it is some game he's playing for some reason. Certainly, she falls into his pattern of needing someone to save by loving them. In this case, he bargains for her life and saves it, though he's told by Henry she's one of them and will never be what Jack wants or hopes she can be. Interesting, but we've seen that Jack rarely listens when others give him romantic advice. So, why start now?
I'm still curious as to where in Jack's timeline the flashback fell. Was it post the break-up of his marraige to Julie Bowen? I need to check the DVDs and see if Jack has the tatoo in those flashbacks or not because I honestly don't recall right now. (Or I could Google it, I suppose...I bet there is someone out there who knows).
I also found it interesting that the stewardess showed back up and we saw those who had been taken by the Others. But we're still not sure as to why. I also liked Jack's talking to Tom, asking him how they should react to the Others who come in, kidnap children and cause the death of others in their group. That was a nice scene.
But these things were isolated bits and pieces in what was, overall, a pretty frustrating episode. It promised answers and certainly it gave them. But it seems like the producers are dancing around getting back to the main group for some reason and I'm not sure what that is. I'd love to think we'll get back there next week, but for all I know we'll get a Sawyer flashback....
Labels: Lost, tv shows
posted by Michael Hickerson at 2/22/2007 06:18:00 PM |
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