In true "Lost" fashion, "Tabula Rasa" saves its biggest nugget of wisdom till near the end of the episode, when Jack tells Kate he doesn't want to know what she did to become a fugitive.
"It doesn't matter, Kate," he says, "who we were, what we did before this, before the crash.
Three days ago, we all died. We should all be able to start over."
Of course, four seasons later we know that's a big, recurring theme in "Lost," the second chance at redemption. Only three episodes in, we could already see that happening -- most notably in Michael and Walt getting a second chance to build their father-son relationship, and obviously, in Kate getting her shot at redemption -- but we were so far in the dark, and we didn't even know it.
We didn't know about Jack's issues, or Claire's, or Sayid's, or Hurley's, or Sawyer's, or Locke's ... you get the point. Everyone has something they would change about their lives, if given the chance, and now they have the chance.
By the end of this episode, we can see the Losties starting to come together. We see Jin begin to show affection toward Sun, who he had treated like dirt since the crash; we see Charlie and Claire forming a bond; we see Locke do something kind for Michael, a perfect stranger, when he finds Vincent the dog and allows Michael to deliver him to Walt; we see Jack, and to some degree Hurley, give Kate a second chance by not telling the others about her fugitive status; we see Boone fix Shannon's sunglasses, even though she's an awful person and doesn't deserve it (is she dead yet?).
But then the shining, happy moment gives way to an ominous looking Locke, and the music turns from carefree to dramatic, giving the sense of things to come -- that things aren't always as simple as they seem.
Doesn't this show have a way of reminding us of that in the most mind-blowing ways?
THE RUNDOWN
Beginning: Jack is working on the marshal, who wakes up and warns Jack that "she is dangerous." Jack thinks he's talking crazy until he pulls a piece of paper from the marshal's jacket pocket and sees a police mugshot of Kate. Doh!
The Flashback: We're just now getting the hang of these flashbacks, which in this episode center on Kate, who wakes up on the wrong end of a shotgun in an Australian farmer's sheep pen. He gives her a job doing farm chores until he catches her fixin' to slip out the back door one night and offers to take her to the train station in the morning. The marshal pulls up alongside them en route, and Ray (the farmer) confesses he gave her up for a $23,000 reward. She grabs the wheel and rolls the truck ... and she would've gotten away with it, too, if she hadn't dragged Ray from the burning truck. Her gesture gives the marshal enough time to apprehend her. Back on the beach, the dying marshal asks Kate what favor she wanted to ask right before the plane crash, and she tells him she wants him to make sure Ray gets his $23K.
Middle: The hikers agree they won't tell the rest of the Losties about Frenchy's transmission, because, "If we tell them what we know, we take away their hope. And hope is a very dangerous thing to lose," Sayid says. ... The flashback (see above). ... Despite the aforementioned agreement, Kate tells Jack about the transmission, but not about her fugitive status. ... Jack goes into the fuselage to fish medicine out of luggage, and he bumps into Sawyer, who is looting the plane for "booze, smokes, and a couple of Playboys." Sawyer urges Jack to not use all the medicine on the marshal, who is probably going to die anyway, but his plea falls on deaf ears. ... Charlie uses a wheelchair (we're enlightened the second time around to know it's Locke's) to cart Claire's luggage across the beach, commenting "whoever's this was is probably better off than we are." ... Walt tells Michael that Locke told him a secret about "a miracle" that happened to Locke, but it would've taken a pretty sharp cracker to put two and two together about the wheelchair (but that's coming in the next episode). Michael tells Walt he doesn't want him hanging out with Locke anymore, but surely he'll change his mind when Locke delivers the dog to him. ... Sawyer tries to put the marshal out of his misery by shooting him in the chest (with the last bullet in the gun, no less) but he misses his heart and instead perforates his lung. Oops.
The End: An optimistic view of the survivors pulling together is interrupted by ominous music and a close-up of a rather steely-eyed Locke, which foreshadows the next episode, in which we'll learn more about the bald man with a miraculous secret. I can't wait to get to know John Locke all over again.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Season 1, Episode 2 — "The Pilot, Part II"
"Two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark."
Those are the words spoken by an unnamed man (in hindsight, of course, we know him as John Locke), who was explaining the game of backgammon to young Walt. More on that later.
I'm only two episodes into the big re-watch, so to speak, but I'm already realizing what's going to happen here: The "Holy Shit" moments that blew you away the first time around lose much of their effect the second time through, but that allows you to focus on the details.
And let's face it, "Lost" has always been about the details, anyway.
Now, about Locke's cryptic description of backgammon. I won't pretend to remember what I was thinking when I first watched this episode, but I'm fairly certain Locke's line would have been lost in the fervor of this episode in which we: learn Charlie is a smack head; find out a prisoner and a U.S. Marshal were among the passengers, see Sawyer shoot a polar bear (!!!), find out Kate was the aforementioned prisoner, and discover a distress signal that has been transmitting on a loop for 16 years, 5 months. Oh, and don't forget that comic book Walt found, which contained a picture of a polar bear -- another minor moment we underestimated until much later, when we find out Walt is "special."
When you've endured all that in an hour, Locke's line about backgammon might get lost in the shuffle. But we know things now that won't allow us to dismiss it. Most notably, we have some indication that Ben and Widmore are playing some sort of game (remember the Season 4 episode in which Widmore "changes the rules"?) and we get the idea that one side is good and one is evil, though I'll be damned if this show ever makes the distinction as simple and clear-cut as Locke's "one is light, one is dark" explanation.
But enough about that. I think I've established my belief that this was a fine bit of foreshadowing, and most certainly one that was forgotten by most viewers long before it became relevant.
The other thing that strikes me two episodes into the project is how much the characters have changed -- most of them for the better -- since the crash. In this episode, Jin is depicted as a domineering husband, forcing Sun to button her top button when Michael comes over to the beach, and Sun looks miserable. It's clear in retrospect that Jin and Sun are actually happier "now" (after being stranded on the island for months) than they were then. It's also funny to see Hurley hating on his future buddy Sawyer (a "chain-smoking jackass" is what he called him after Sawyer accused Sayid of being a terrorist).
But this episode's real twist was feeding into our notion that the show was going to be about some type of monster (the Black Smoke Monster, which made a brief cameo early in the episode) before letting us know in the final few minutes there was much more going on than we possibly could have believed. And we've only just scratched the surface.
THE RUNDOWN
Beginning: Charlie is a smack head.
Middle: Walt finds some handcuffs; Sawyer and Sayid get in a fistfight; Walt finds a comic book (with a polar bear); Sawyer reads a note on the beach; Kate, Sayid, Shannon, Boone, Charlie and Sawyer go on a hike with the transceiver; Locke teaches Walt about backgammon (and much more, I have a feeling); Claire feels Aaron kick; Sawyer shoots a polar bear (with a gun he took off a U.S. Marshal); the handcuffs belonged to Kate.
End: The transceiver picks up a radio signal, which turns out to be a distress signal (from Frenchy) that's been looping for 16 years, 5 months (Sayid's rough estimate). For the second time in as many episodes, rock star Charlie leaves us with an existential puzzler to end the show, muttering "Guys ... where are we?" If only he knew how complicated that question was.
Those are the words spoken by an unnamed man (in hindsight, of course, we know him as John Locke), who was explaining the game of backgammon to young Walt. More on that later.
I'm only two episodes into the big re-watch, so to speak, but I'm already realizing what's going to happen here: The "Holy Shit" moments that blew you away the first time around lose much of their effect the second time through, but that allows you to focus on the details.
And let's face it, "Lost" has always been about the details, anyway.
Now, about Locke's cryptic description of backgammon. I won't pretend to remember what I was thinking when I first watched this episode, but I'm fairly certain Locke's line would have been lost in the fervor of this episode in which we: learn Charlie is a smack head; find out a prisoner and a U.S. Marshal were among the passengers, see Sawyer shoot a polar bear (!!!), find out Kate was the aforementioned prisoner, and discover a distress signal that has been transmitting on a loop for 16 years, 5 months. Oh, and don't forget that comic book Walt found, which contained a picture of a polar bear -- another minor moment we underestimated until much later, when we find out Walt is "special."
When you've endured all that in an hour, Locke's line about backgammon might get lost in the shuffle. But we know things now that won't allow us to dismiss it. Most notably, we have some indication that Ben and Widmore are playing some sort of game (remember the Season 4 episode in which Widmore "changes the rules"?) and we get the idea that one side is good and one is evil, though I'll be damned if this show ever makes the distinction as simple and clear-cut as Locke's "one is light, one is dark" explanation.
But enough about that. I think I've established my belief that this was a fine bit of foreshadowing, and most certainly one that was forgotten by most viewers long before it became relevant.
The other thing that strikes me two episodes into the project is how much the characters have changed -- most of them for the better -- since the crash. In this episode, Jin is depicted as a domineering husband, forcing Sun to button her top button when Michael comes over to the beach, and Sun looks miserable. It's clear in retrospect that Jin and Sun are actually happier "now" (after being stranded on the island for months) than they were then. It's also funny to see Hurley hating on his future buddy Sawyer (a "chain-smoking jackass" is what he called him after Sawyer accused Sayid of being a terrorist).
But this episode's real twist was feeding into our notion that the show was going to be about some type of monster (the Black Smoke Monster, which made a brief cameo early in the episode) before letting us know in the final few minutes there was much more going on than we possibly could have believed. And we've only just scratched the surface.
THE RUNDOWN
Beginning: Charlie is a smack head.
Middle: Walt finds some handcuffs; Sawyer and Sayid get in a fistfight; Walt finds a comic book (with a polar bear); Sawyer reads a note on the beach; Kate, Sayid, Shannon, Boone, Charlie and Sawyer go on a hike with the transceiver; Locke teaches Walt about backgammon (and much more, I have a feeling); Claire feels Aaron kick; Sawyer shoots a polar bear (with a gun he took off a U.S. Marshal); the handcuffs belonged to Kate.
End: The transceiver picks up a radio signal, which turns out to be a distress signal (from Frenchy) that's been looping for 16 years, 5 months (Sayid's rough estimate). For the second time in as many episodes, rock star Charlie leaves us with an existential puzzler to end the show, muttering "Guys ... where are we?" If only he knew how complicated that question was.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Season 1, Episode 1 — "Pilot, Part 1"
We begin with the now-classic, always-creepy "Lost" opening sequence in which the camera is zoomed in tight to capture the instant when a closed eye becomes an open one (it's Jack's eye, in this case), no doubt symbolic of the eye-opening experience on which we're about to embark, not only for the next hour but for years to come.
I have to admit, I was a late bloomer when it comes to my "Lost" fandom -- I picked it up sometime in the first season, when they ran a marathon on ABC Family, and I was hooked. In fact, I don't think I had seen the first episode in its entirety until this morning. Still, I was familiar enough with what happened, because so many of the scenes have been part of flashbacks over these first four seasons. So I didn't learn anything new from this excursion back to the beginning, but a few items of interest did jump out at me. Among them:
Season 1, Episode 1 rundown
I have to admit, I was a late bloomer when it comes to my "Lost" fandom -- I picked it up sometime in the first season, when they ran a marathon on ABC Family, and I was hooked. In fact, I don't think I had seen the first episode in its entirety until this morning. Still, I was familiar enough with what happened, because so many of the scenes have been part of flashbacks over these first four seasons. So I didn't learn anything new from this excursion back to the beginning, but a few items of interest did jump out at me. Among them:
- It's interesting to see how some characters' personalities have changed during their time on the island. Most notably at this point, Sun was depicted in the initial episode as the submissive wife, speaking nary a word while Jin instructs her to stay by his side at all times. Oh, how she will change.
- I had forgotten just how bitchy Shannon was. The only consolation this time around is I know she'll be dead soon enough.
- It's wild to see Jack save Claire's life (and Aaron's, for that matter) in the opening minutes of the series, especially given what we now know about their half-sibling relationship.
Season 1, Episode 1 rundown
- Beginning: Zoomed-in shot of an eye opening with a start, drift back to see a man lying in the middle of the jungle. The man, who we will soon learn is a doctor named Jack, wanders to the nearby beach, where all hell is breaking loose.
- Middle: We meet a whole bunch of people, including a nameless fat guy, a nameless redneck, a nameless bald dude, a woman named Kate, a kid named Boone, a nasty woman named Shannon, a nameless pregnant woman, a rockstar named Charlie, a nameless middle-aged black woman, a nameless Korean couple, a nameless youngish black man and his son Walt, a nameless pilot, and a nameless faceless scary monster.
- Highlights: The pilot informs Jack and Kate that he lost radio contact after six hours in the air, at which point no one could see the plane on radar, etc., and that the flight was 1,000 miles off-course by the time it hit turbulence. The Black Smoke Monster then grabs the pilot and kills him. Good times are had by all.
- End: "Guys, how does something like that happen?," Charlie says to Jack and Kate, while pointing at the ravaged, bloody body of the pilot that sits in the treetops. It goes without saying, this sets up the rest of the season/series quite nicely.
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