'Lost': Oh brutha

Desmond used to be a monk. Charlie's still alive. And a stranger has fallen from the sky.

Next.

Also, nice of Wednesday's episode to finally address the cliffhanger from Season 2. But seriously, folks, the next four episodes have got to build to something. Anything! Lots of things  ripe for the pickin.'

A Jack-vs.-Locke showdown. Where Juliet's mission is leading. The real story behind the French woman. The real story behind the Others. Heck, I'll take the real story behind that black smoke and those jungle polar bears...

What did everyone else think?

(Photo courtesy ABC)

Comments

[DS9Sisko]

I know it's fashionable in certain circles to bash lost as if it were the equivalent of the VA Tech killer of television, but enough is enough. The last several episodes of the series have been top notch, reclaimed so-called lost momentum, provided tons of answers, fine acting and terrific acting. "Catch 22" was a great episode in a string of them. Whoever is responsible for all the whining that goes on in this ShowTracker for "Lost" needs to switch to reviewing "CSI:NY" or "Medium."

[Francis]

I agree. It's cheap, lazy internet 'journalism' that's predisposed to bash LOST in this manner. The fact is answers have been given. It's one thing not to like the answers but another thing altogether to repeat these tiresome clichés about the show which have no basis in reality. If you don't like the show, don't talk about it. Quit feeding the echo chamber in an effort to stoke you're 'too cool for school' superiority. I like LOST. I like the pace of LOST. I find something hugely entertaining about nearly every episode. It remains one of the best shows on network television. I think the season wind-up is progressing very well.

[Bjorn]

Well, I think the show has improved, and I'm learning patience. If we've learned anything from Twin Peaks it's that as soon as all the questions are answer, we stop watching. I just wish they hadn't killed Echo.

Actually my biggest wish is that the show rekindles the creepy spooky feeling of the first season when the others were still just whispers in the jungle and not commune with turkey dinners in their ymca camp refrigerators. The flash back with Desmond in Catch 22, with the mosaic jumbled together was on the right track. That was awesome, the show is getting better.

[Jiminator]

I think the Polar Bears used to be part of the zoo, where Sawyer was being held. Remember, they said there used to be bears there? Polar bears can swim.

Just a thought.

[Denise Martin]

Good point Jiminator, I must have been thrown by Juliet's reaction to them when she and Kate were running. I guess she could have been faking though, right?

Bjorn, the first season of "Twin Peaks" is my all time favorite season of TV, period. And I agree, the show worked well when it was creepy. But I don't find anything creepy about it anymore except for Ben, and he's not the good kind of creepy I'm referring to...

D9Sisko and Francis, to each his own. The first season was outstanding, no question. This season has had its moments, even entire episodes, that reminded me of how good the show can be (see posts about Locke and Juliet episodes...and I'd mention the latest Sayid one in the same breath), but there is a reason for this "echo chamber" of criticism. The show DOES have too many balls in the air. They HAVE killed off interesting characters and left ones like Charlie with nothing to do (unless you count doting on Claire as interesting). My main beef (forget pacing, forget the mysteries) is character development. The show needs to do more of it.

Desmond's episode certainly wasn't unwatchable. It was just "eh." Which is why I didn't have much to say about it.

[Heff]

I've got to agree with you here. I know that mystery is the whole grab of the show...but I'm getting really bored with this whole lack of answers.

[Imogen]

Kate and Juliet were not running from the bears, they were running from the smoke creature, and I think the Others are genuinely afraid of it, though they seem to know a bit more about it than the survivors.

[Brian]

I was just disappointed that they didn't do anything with the very hot Kiele Sanchez character (hardly had a line the whole season) and then gave her a feature episode and killed her off! That ain't right.

And the whole thing of showing a few episodes and then reruns and then a few more has almost put me off, but it is still one of the most engrossing to watch. It does feel a bit like they're treading water, but wih a 2-season extension they've got time and a whole slew of cast backstories to expand upon and/or kill off.

FYI I felt the best show of the season was Friday Night Lights because it just seems honest and real, and Medium is one that is both intriguing and manages to pay it off each week. Trying to be too high concept sunk most other shows of that ilk from last season, so Lost shouldn't be too cocky as they string us along.

[echo]

I liked this episode, because I think Desmond is one of their better characters.

Brian, you've got to be kidding. Kiele Sanchez was one of the worst actors ever featured on the show.

I don't understand why the show felt the need to kill off three interesting Tailies (season 2 was underrated, in terms of character development). The season 1 people are boring and don't merit flashbacks anymore (especially Jack and Kate, who get all the flashbacks). Sun, Jin, and Claire continue to be criminally underused.

If they're going to kill off more people, I suggest the writers take a hard look at the season 1 characters.

[bigFan]

I think the lesson I learned from "Twin Peaks" is that my appreciation for GREAT television isn't in-line with what keeps a show on the air. I like the drip, drip, drip of Lost. Tons of possibilities with tons more coming each episode. The control freaks watching the show who ware demanding a neat, tidy story (when does life ever really offer you one?) need to go watch another 30-60min factory episode where they give you the happy ending you so desire. As far as I'm concerned, I'll continue to tune in and continue to enjoy the drip, drip, drip of clues behind Lost.

[Gadfly22]

The creators of these "ongoing mystery"-type shows need to realize that they can't adopt the usual open-ended structure of network dramas. They need -- because we the viewers need -- resolution and a sense of "mystery solved".

Take a look in any bookstore. How many 750-page mystery novels do you see? Not many at all. The mystery format tries the readers (or viewers) patience and just can't successfully be sustained.

Instead of the "Twin Peaks" open-ended, pile mystery on dead-ended mystery format and adopt the format used in Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner" many years ago: a fixed number of episodes with a detectable structural arc. While the end of "The Prisoner" is famously bizarre, at least it had an ending that was somehow true to the spirit of the series. In comparison, "Lost" just seems...er...lost.

And I will eat my words IF (as seems unlikely), Jack has actually learned something from his experiences and is NOT being taken in by Juliet and can somehow use that experience and information to begin to tip the balance of power in favor of the Losties (just as the power shifted to Number 6 in the last few episodes of "The Prisoner").

[John]

I quit wathcing 2 yaears ago. 'nuf said!

[Denise Martin]

Since people keep coming back to Twin Peaks, I thought I'd add my two cents since that first season is probably my favorite season of television ever. WIth Twin Peaks I never felt like I was being "patient" with the msyteries because the characters were so well-drawn, interesting, quirky and different. I didn't care if one or all of the mysteries were solved -- OK, that's not entirely true-- because it wasn't what kept me coming back week after week. Of course I wanted to know who killed Laura Palmer, but I was more than happy to wait in the company of Agent Cooper, Dr. Jacoby, Ben Horne, The Log Lady et al...

[Mike]

Denise, I have one word for you:
HATER!
Go pop in one of your "Battlestar Galactica" DVDs!

[Geoff Berkshire]

Did someone say BSG?

That's good TV!!

[Katie]

Well, I have been hooked on this show from the beginning but got frustrated, like others, when there were all the reruns and then big gaps in new episodes. I love a mystery, which is why I got hooked on this show, but also because it has fine acting, and makes you really think. I'm sick of almost everything on TV and need something to keep my interest. People have been watching soap operas for decades........so, no problem to keep this going for at least one more season as they have said. I agree with a poster who said that they liked all the mystery, and unfortunately, I might lose interest if they tell too much all at once. I give the writers props for the interesting premise that they have created, and are still creating.