Monday 13 April 2009

S01E02 - Pilot, Part Two

Pilot, Part Two
~ Written 13.4.09

Episode Rating: 4.5/5

Episode Two follows cleanly on from Episode One, so I'll jump right in.

It's funny seeing Sayid & Sawer coming to blows in this episode, with a mutual hatred. Jump to Season Three where we have the two teaming up on Juliet, following her to find Claire's medicine. Things sure have changed since Season One.

We are treated to a flash of Charlie on the plane, dealing drugs. It's odd how he comes out of the toilet and crawls mere meters but doesn't end up in the Front section of the plane. I guess that's one to chalk up as a continuity error.

We also have Locke sitting on the beach, playing backgammon. It seems ages since Locke had the time to just sit back on the beach and play a game. Now he's off doing the island's bidding and getting himself killed and resurrected. Speaking of which, how long has it been since any character could just sit back and do nothing. Have there been any instances of this in Season Five? It's all action from here on out, it seems.

OMGWTFPOLARBEAR ... ahh simpler days, when things like Polar Bears surprised us. Now, we wouldn't bat more than an eyelid if a Bengal Tiger walked out of the jungle. We know from the 6-episode arc in Season Three that the Polar Bears were brought here for testing on Hydra Island, in the same cage Sawyer was kept in.

We see Kate on the plane, and I struggle to believe how nobody noticed the woman in handcuffs. You're on a long flight, you're going to be bored and looking around. Oh well, they're probably all dead anyway.

I absolutely love seeing all the plane scenes. Seeing the Tail break off is so awesome, but maybe I'm just a freak who loves planes :)

Jump to the end of the episode, where Shannon is translating Rousseau's message, which we now know is broadcasting from the Radio Tower. She translates Rousseau's message to "they're dead... it killed them... it killed them all". Of course, we know that it was Danielle herself who killed them, but finally, four seasons later, the story is explained about why Danielle killed them; her team followed Smokey into the depths of the Temple and they came out crazy. "Sick".

"Guys... where are we?" Even now, we don't know.

S01E01 - Pilot, Part One

Pilot, Part One
~ Written 13.4.09

Episode Rating: 5/5

I'm going to dive right in with the top rating. Not because it is necessarily the best LOST episode, but because it's iconic, memorable, what got me first interested in LOST, and probably my most-watched episode. It's the first chapter of an amazing, unputdownable book that has such a large, amazing fanbase.

We start with Jackin the jungle, who is scratched and lying on the floor. The classic eye opener, which we've all grown to love. Along comes Vincent, straight from a chat with Christian Shephard who tells Vincent to wake up Jack as he has "work to do". Still not sure what to make of that one. More on Vincent later. Jack walks past the white tennis shoes, which we find out in Season 5 was all Jack had to put on Christian's dead body.

Jack runs out onto what may be the most iconic moment of all of Lost- the beach crash scene. It's the moment where it really hits you- wow. The whole scene is beyond belief, frightening but oddly stunning. From the burning wreckage to the wing hanging off of the side of the plane, every shot creates a lasting image.

Jump to Jack patching himself up along the beach, Kate appears out of the jungle. We never saw her on the beach scene- wouldn't it be great if we find out at some point that something happened in that jungle- that she had some kind of contact with The Others or somebody? I don't know, but it would certainly be a big shocker.

Jack pulls out a bottle of alcohol, which we later find out Cindy gave him. That scene always makes me crick an eyebrow. There's no way she'd just hand him a free drink like that. Not to mention she turns in the opposite direction, leaving the drinks trolley ;)

This episode is filled with lots of visual information; so many scenes without dialogue, just allowing you to take it all in. We see Sawyer, just lighting up a cigarette, but without any speech the entire episode.

Rewatching the episode, I find myself actually liking so many characters again; Locke, Boone, even Jack. Simpler times... It's also interesting to note the huge transformations the characters have taken; Sun especially. In this episode, she's completely under her husband's control, doing as he bids. Jump to three seasons later, where it's the other way round. Jump forward another season to gun-toting Sun who will do anything to get back to Jin, the man she was so desperately trying to leave.

As Kate, Jack & Charlie make their way to the cockpit, we see Vincent lurking in the bushes. I don't know if we'll ever get an explanation about any of this, but there's more to Vincent than meets the eye.

Kate, Jack & Charlie reach the cockpit, where the plane is rocked by Smokey. Flash ahead three seasons to the S4 premiere, where Jack and Kate are discussing this first trip. It always seems to come full circle with Lost.

We end the episode seeing the Pilot's dead body in the tree, and Charlie asks what could do something like that. Even in Season Five, we're still pretty clueless about Smokey. But we know a lot more, now.