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.