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Feb 10, 2010

LOST Breakdown - Episode 2!


So here we are at week 2 of Lost, and after their season premiere and highest ratings ever, what do they go to hook all their viewers…? A Kate episode?!?! No one ever likes Kate episodes, but maybe they at least had a decent subplot to save it… not even close, with a subplot about Samurai and John Lennon trying to poison Sayid. Classic Lostiness right there. But never fear chums - they always mix in a bunch of stinkers, it just means we’re that much closer to an episode that doesn’t actually suck. They’ve been resting up Desmondo for practically a full season, it might be time to get that fella back in the mix; he was on Flight 815 in their bizarre alternate reality, and the only reason he’d be there is if he has memories of the original timeline. Is it too much to ask for him to start mixing things up, causing trouble for the passengers and speaking of what was, is, and never should have been. Maybe build up to some finale where Desmondo through killing a bunch of people and righting some wrongs makes the two timelines merge, and then there is two of everyone in some bizarre combined world. Also, they picked a poor week to give Richie Alpert some rest, I for one was looking forward to some war of demigods with him and Jacob’s nemesis clamoring for allies in a civil war to settle once and for all who rules the Island. And when was Alpert in chains? Was he in fact a slave on the Black Rock, as some Lost nerds have been postulating for seasons on end?

As for this episode, “What Kate Does”, it was the typical Lost throwaway episode, with Kate doing what she always does: running around annoying everyone. In the alternate reality, Kate kidnaps Claire, escapes from some cops, then makes friends with Claire, and then they make plans to live happily ever after together raising Aaron. Also in yet another colossal alternate reality gaffe, they had Claire come up with the name Aaron, when originally she only named her kid Aaron because Boone had just died and she wanted to honor him (and like every other rational person she despised the douchebags of Red Sox nation), and since it was 2004 she went with Aaron since Aaron Boone was currently the hero of Anti-Sawx nation. Also in Bizarro L.A., there was a cameo by Ethan Rom, but since Jack blew up the island, Rom grew up on the mainland as Goodspeed, a retarded appearance that just gave the writers a chance to show that yes, if we hadn’t figured it out by now, things would be different in an alternate reality.

On the island, the episode seemed to have some promise thanks to the triumphant return of Aldo, played by popular character actor Rob McElhenney, Mac from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. Last time we saw Aldo he was falling for the old “Wookie” trick and getting knocked out. Aldo looked like he was calling the shots for their little hunting posse too, until Kate got mad and knocked him out again. Sadly there is no hope of him rejoining with Samurai and John Lennon next episode, as he got shot by a possibly evil Claire. Also since the Others have a John Lennon, why not go all the way and give three other guys Beatle haircuts and just have them hanging around, maybe have their George rocking a moustache and breaking out an axe from Hurley’s guitar case to start playing “Here Comes the Sun”. On the other side of the Island, Sawyer threatened to shoot everyone, giving me hope for my dream of him going vigilante and wreaking some havoc, but it turned out he just wanted to go get an engagement ring from his old house. Then he and Kate cried together or something - I dunno, I lost interest there pretty fast. And, as previously mentioned there was a masterminded plot to poison Sayid that Jack managed to thwart. Judging from the ashes they poured on him, they must think he’s some vessel for the smoke monster or something. At least that whole weird sequence ended Fletcher’s bizarre theory of Sayid having secretly been Jacob in disguise the whole time. Better leave the predictions to us professionals, Irwin.

I don’t remember seeing any previews for next week’s episode but I sure would like to see a heaping dose of Mister Hume, wouldn’t mind some Alpert also, and I’d love to see them get the inevitable Jin/Sun reunion out of the way, looks like they’re trying to build up to a replay of the Desmond/Penny reunion, only with Jin/Sun no one cares. I guess we’ll probably find out what Claire has been up to, it would be sweet if Jacob’s nemesis could occupy numerous bodies and she’s chilling with “Christian Shepherd”, while “John Locke” is torturing Alpert, and in his third possessed body, Sayid turns evil and ices Samurai, then jams out with the Others’ Beatles cover band.


5 people have chosen wisely: on "LOST Breakdown - Episode 2!"

Nick said...

A bit off topic here...

Maybe it's just the English teacher in me, but this post drove me crazy. No offense meant here, but between typos, run-on sentences, and a lack of cohesiveness (including but not limited to paragraph structure or sentences themselves)... something just seemed off from our previous posts. Seriously, it was like there was no transition from sentence to sentence, or sometimes within the sentences themselves, and it was all unedited stream-of-consciousness.

Now, if your other posts were like this, I wouldn't have said anything. But the others were at least more organized and fixed up. So what gives?

Anywho, back on subject. I disagree. That pretty much sums it up. :P

(OK, except on the fact that we need another Desmond episode. But that's a given.)

Fletch said...

Nick - that's because I had yet to go through and attempt to fix all of Kid Vegas' typos and such. I make for a great copy editor.

By and large, I agree with the Kid this time around - this episode pretty much stunk, as everyone was acting as though they really were in a soap opera, doing and saying stupid things (Sayid, minutes after being tortured: "Jack, if you want me to take their magic pill, I will, because I trust you." Puh-lease...).

The only interesting thing about Kate's sidestory was when she froze on seeing Jack.

However, seeing Ethan was the highlight of the season so far for me, and all the better that he was now on the good side of dealing with Claire and her bay-bay. That shit cracked me up - I'll never get over the creepiness he gave us in season 1.

As for Sayid not being Jacob - oh well. At least that would have been better than the "he's infected" (ooohhhh!) plot line they went with. Dumb.

Ed Howard said...

Everyone seemed to hate this episode but I didn't think it was so terrible. It was kind of a setting-the-stage episode rather than a big exciting epic one, so of course it'll be disappointing, and I generally think Kate is one of the less interesting characters, so there's that too. But there was some good stuff too, notably the appearance of Ethan, mirroring his earlier interactions with Claire ("I don't want to poke you with too many needles.") from when he was with the Others. And Claire picking the name Aaron, far from being a plothole, is another sign that these two alternate realities are bleeding together in some strange way, that these characters might have subconscious "memories" of who they once were or might've been.

I also liked all the on-island stuff this week, especially them seeming to put a lid on any potential of a Kate/Sawyer romance, with Sawyer continuing to grieve for Juliet, and the revelation that the Man in Black's influence has likely extended to Sayid and to Claire, whose story now parallels Rousseau's.

Nick said...

Oh, and how come nobody has mentioned Artz (or whatever his name is)? Wasn't that him that Kate almost ran over with the cab?

Fletch said...

Ed - certainly, it's early in the season, so some setting the table is to be expected. However, this is the second episode of the final season (!), with just 14 episodes left - they need to be resolving things left and right and not throwing a bunch of new, equally bizarre elements.

Putting a (hopeful) end to the Kate/Sawyer business would be welcome, but from everything I've read from the producers about this season, that ain't the case - it'll (the love triangle with them and Jack) be lingering all season.

Nick - a) Artz was in the last ep, as he was on the place and b) he's annoying. Hate that guy. Bring back Eko already...