Category Archives: Lost

Paulo & Nikki:

A ‘Lost’ Morality Play

“Morality plays are a type of theatrical allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a Godly life over one of evil.” [Wikipedia]

There is no question that Nikki and Paulo’s introduction to the series was a moment where many felt that Lost had crossed a line. The idea of just randomly placing two castaways into the show’s mythology was sketchy at best, and it wasn’t met with any less resistance when they proved entirely worthless in every way for the first dozen episodes this season. We were told that this episode would be the one to justify their existence; it is my humble opinion that it did not do so, but yet it was an absolutely fascinating hour of television.

Honestly, it was kind of fun to go back into the past of the island and make some sense of quite a few things. Often times Lost has been too quick to forget its own history, and this episode brought back a lot of those memories. As an example, Sun’s capture at the hands of Sawyer and Charlie designed to ensure Sawyer regained political power was pretty well forgotten; now, it returned to the forefront of the discussion. The beach castaways have long been rather forgotten in many ways, and yet here they finally got a chance to return to some of their drama from last season.

And yet, in the end, it was all a morality play. The ‘deaths’ of Nikki and Paulo were a reminder to the people about the wrongs which had been done, about the problems which had been left untouched. And, really, it’s quite the message to send, and the fact that they buried them alive only further shows that these people are not purely moral citizens.

And, the episode was a fantastic piece of writing and directing. The entire episode was filled with inside jokes, editing Nikki and Paulo into the show’s mythology rather seamlessly all things considered. It made the moment earlier this season when Paulo came out of the bathroom in the Pearl station sensical, and the return of some island favourites (Ethan (Ian Mapother), Shannon (Maggie Grace), Boone (Ian Somerhalder), Arzt) was neat on all sorts of levels.

And yet, even not form a nostalgic sense, the episode resulted in a fantastic twilight zone ending complete with the burial of perfectly alive Nikki and Paulo. The slow reveal of the spiders, itself foreshadowed previously in the episode, was a fantastic device, and it resulted in a ‘Holy Shit’ moment which the show hasn’t achieved in a long time. It was different than anything else we’ve seen on Lost, which I think was good. As The Elder was discussing earlier in terms of BE Something’s criticism of Lost, people are sometimes left out of the speculative loop with the show’s big storylines. Here, however, we were welcomed into the story, sucked into the plot as it weaved its way from present day to the past. It was, if anything, a mystery story where we were offered the chance to step into Hurley’s shoes and try to find the true ‘killers.’

But yet, as I say all of these good things about the episodes…was that it? Were these two actors brought in simply for this one episode with little to no connection to the main storyline? The episode was very standalone, very indulgent, and didn’t really justify their salaries for their earlier episodes. Have we seen the last of Paulo and Nikki? If so, were they really worth it just for this hour of television? It’s an interesting question, and I look forward to the weekly podcast to find out the answer.

If you want to know what happened in the episode, continue on. Note that highlighted sections take place in the past, while non-highlights are in the present.

Continue reading →

Mystery Solved?

The Wheelchair, The Submarine and the Locke Box

Well, Lost has solved one of its most long-running mysteries with last night’s episode: “How did Locke end up in his wheelchair?” We, finally, learned that Locke lost the use of his legs when his own father tackled him out of an eight story apartment and sent him barreling to the ground. This was one of those mysteries which had always lingered; in every Locke back story, you waited to see if there were any clues, any hints, any revelations as to what happened to our favourite bald mastermind. There was little question that the episode where it was revealed would have to deliver, and in the end: it did.

This episode, more than anything else, was a masterful example of the ability of this show to develop a good character drama. The conversations between Ben and Locke were, perhaps the best the show has had since…well, since Locke and Ben sat chatting in the Hatch. There is something about Michael Emerson’s performance, and Terry O’Quinn’s characterization of Locke, that mesh together so well in terms of discussing and delving into their respective pasts. We’ve missed this side of Ben ever since he went under the knife, and it was fantastic to get manipulative and cunning Ben back to the show.

Because, in the end, this entire episode related back to Locke’s ability to be manipulated, to be used, to be taken advantage of. In a way, the island is perhaps the greatest manipulator, giving him the use of his legs and then asking for things in return which have led to Boone’s death and perhaps even Eko’s, if you want to go that far. The show is often at its best with these types of mind games, and they were in full force in this episode.

You might be realizing that I’m not really talking about Locke’s big mystery, and there’s a reason for this: it doesn’t matter anymore. What Lost has done here is take one of their biggest back story mysteries and actually make it worth a damn in the present. If you remember, when we learned that Kate had blown up her stepfather, we quite literally stopped caring. There was no impact; it didn’t change our perception of the character, it didn’t change the situation on the island, and it was pretty much useless all around.

However, even though the actual event of Locke breaking his back wasn’t over-the-top amazing (Nice quick cut to black, though), it matters in the big picture much more than any other back story we’ve seen. Not only did Locke’s injury provide some great wheelchair banter with Ben (A great parallel to his story, and to this episode), but it all went back to his ability to be manipulated and the memory of his father. It made Locke’s decision to blow up the submarine make sense, which was somewhat integral, and even more importantly it introduced us to the Locke Box.

We don’t know what it is, this box which gives you exactly what you want. However, somehow, it appears to have delivered to Ben “the man from Tallahassee.” When Locke’s father was behind that door, as I had somewhat assumed, it made this entire episode actually matter. I don’t give a crap if it solved a mystery by adding more, because that’s what the show needs to do to stay interesting. Unlike Kate, who now lacks a mystery to sustain her character in back stories, Locke is now even more confused, more complex and is a character open to more development outside of his Season 1 origins.

Fantastic dramatic tension, really good directing (The Hatch shot in the submarine mirroring the shot from the original hatch made me happy), great acting, and a heightening of mystery while providing one of the answers we were always looking for. How anyone could argue against this hour of television boggles my mind, if only for Ben’s one-liners alone.

If you missed it, or want to rekindle fond memories, continue on to check out the full recap.

Continue reading →

Gone to the Birds:

Lost’s Migratory Movements

This week’s episode of Lost was all about birds, both literally and metaphorically.

The Raven – John Locke

Finally we get to see a little bit more of Locke’s nefarious planning leading up to next week’s episode. We knew that his actions with the computer were sketchy, and that he certainly seems to have somewhat different motivations than Kate in this scenario, but it is becoming clearer that Locke has his own mission of sorts here.

Much of this was precipitated by an explanation of the list by Mikhail, specifically regarding the John Locke he once knew. Is this the John Locke who fought boars and found his way into his hatch? If anything, it’s the John Locke we once knew ourselves and have been yearning for. I certainly believe that it is the John Locke who steals C4 and seems to have his own special plans for the Others once he gets into their Barracks.

The return of Locke as a character of important and, most important, mystery has been one of the reasons the show has improved greatly over the past few weeks, and this episode appears to send us heading further towards finding out more about Locke’s past.

The Pigeon – Dr. Christian Shepherd

You know how, when you’re in a park of any sorts, you see a whole lot of pigeons? Well, it appears that Dr. Christian Shephard is the backstory equivalent for Lost. Now having been spotted in the back stories of four different characters (Jack, Sawyer, Ana Lucia and Claire), there’s little question that he is somewhat important to the mythology of all of these characters.

We didn’t learn too much new about Christian in this episode, except that perhaps his frequent tips to Australia make a bit more sense. I would have to go back and watch his visit to the house while under the care of Ana Lucia to see if it connects to Claire or to some other character, but either way I like this continued development. John Terry is good in the role, his bones are sitting somewhere on the island, and it was somewhat nice to see a back story have some sort of ramification on the show’s overall mythology after a few very insular back stories.

The Common Indian Myna – Claire

Now, apparently, the Common Indian Myna is an invasive pest in Australia, which is kind of how I felt about Claire in this episode. Don’t get me wrong, the character isn’t quite that awful, but the problem was that it was a diversion to the much more interesting storyline regarding the search for the Others’ barracks.

It just sometimes feels like it’s a different show we’re watching, and this is frustrating when the other storyline involves people suffering from cerebral hemorrhage. Claire’s storyline wasn’t terrible in terms of backstories go, but her quest for a sea bird was too similar to everyone else’s quests to get off the island and provide hope for the future. Much like Bernard’s, however, there really wasn’t much hope in the least, and it was all rather misguided.

I like that we’re returning to long-forgotten characters, but I just felt like there were more important stories to be telling…and therefore it was a storyline very similar to an invasive pest.

The One That Flew the Coop – Jack

He’s fraternizing with the Others, playing football with Tom? From the preview, he’s being all friendly with even Ben? We knew that Jack was in fairly good spirits with the Others when they left the small island, but how did this all develop here? I’m assuming that it’s in an attempt to save Juliet’s life, but it’s clear that he’s not too concerned about escaping anytime soon (The running towards them was a neat little freakout).

I think it adds an interesting dynamic to things, and I very much like how this storyline is moving quite quickly. Whereas often these storylines have taken awhile to develop, this has moved quite quickly. One episode wandering in the woods following North, one episode at the Flame, one episode getting past the sonic boom fence, and then bam! They’re at the barracks. Some nice little mythos tidbits along the way (Some interesting stuff with the list and the talk about leaving and coming to the island [For its healing properties?]), and some neat action sequences, and we find ourselves at a crossroads.

This is the kind pacing we saw in the show’s first season, and I think it’s a return to form of sorts. Now that we’re back to an integration between the Others and our castaways, let’s see if it can continue.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the episode, continue on for a recap. Continue reading →

7 Things I Learned About Lost from “Enter 77”

1. Locke + Computer = Bad

So, first he stops inputting the numbers and they lose the hatch, and now this time he blows up the Flame Station? I have to wonder how he managed not to blow up that box company he was working at in his flashbacks the second he touched their computers.

2. Cure to PTSD? Cats

The whole idea of cats being used to treat emotional wounds is really quite fascinating, and probably quite logical, but it seems a bit off for some reason. The flashback on the whole was fairly topical, if perhaps a little bit isolated and redundant based on past stories, but it certainly gave showcase to some lovable felines.

3. Absense…actually finds fondness quite the same

It’s been a while since we’ve spent decent time with Sayid and Locke this season, so it was good to finally return to these two characters. Their characters remain as interesting as ever, although I worry about redundancy of back stories (Locke’s should be coming up soon, though).

4. Hurley likes Sports

It always seems to be Hurley who suggests taking some randomly found objects and turning them into a game to liven up everyone’s spirits, including the episodes. This week’s ping pong match was almost entirely off-screen (Makes you wonder what was cut), but it served the same purpose as his golf game and the like.

5. Roger and…that girl are still utterly useless

Come on, Lindelof and Cuse, I want to know why it was necessary to add these people to the cast, especially since Kiele Sanchez has signed onto ABC’s Footballer’s Wives pilot which at this point has too many stars not to get picked up. If you’re just going to kill her, we better have a damn good reason for her existence.

6. The Purge

I like this idea of the purge, this idea that the Dharma people tried to eliminate the hostiles. When did this happen? Who of our current characters were involved? What role did Rousseau play in it all? I actually quite like the confusion it adds to her character; if she’d never been in this part of the island, where exactly has she gone? Has she really avoided them all this time, it seems quite unlikely. Either way, it certain adds lots of questions for which better answers can be provided when Jack returns in the upcoming weeks.

7. CTV’s Previews Are…Not Too Bad

The preview for this week’s episode seemed to reveal a lot, but it all went down within the first few minutes. Similarly, the preview for next week showed mainly just two scenes, as opposed to real plot twists and turns within the story. I’d still rather not see them, but as I was too lazy to turn to channel I was pleasantly surprised to see something I don’t mind watching. Kudos.

Oh…and, since I forgot to clarify, the episode was really quite good, and I think it really got things back on track compared to a few weeks of awkward attempts to regain past footing. That’s that: If you want a full recap of the episode, continue on. Continue reading →