Because You Left (#5.1)
Review: In
re-watching these episodes, I inevitably found a large number of things that I
hadn’t noticed before.
One of
those things was in regards to Daniel Faraday-I heart this character completely,
but I forgot how little we really saw of him in Season 4.
Instead, he became a permanent fixture
in Season 5, and this was a testament to that.
This was one of the best season premieres of the show,
truly.
I loved the way it carried
all of the nuts-and-bolts of the previous season, and just carried us right in,
not skipping out on anyone’s mystery (well, maybe the one about where Jin
is).
Sure, it leaves a lot of
loose threads, but that’s part of the fun.
At least we now have a sage on our side (Faraday) to guide
the way.
Hurley Dude Count: 3
Desmond Brother
Count: 1
Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Ghost of Christmas Future, for himself
Really?!? with John: Kate,
when someone mysterious shows up at your house without a cop asking for a blood
sample, they likely are up to no good and there’s really no need to run.
(Still) Unanswered
Questions: Why is it that some people travel through time and Others don’t?
Best Line: “Maybe
if you ate more comfort food, you wouldn’t have to go around shooting people?”
–Hurley, to Sayid (I also loved “I need a cool code name,” –Hurley)
Best Moment: Richard
and Locke, in the woods
Episode MVP: Daniel,
who does that jittery nerd thing ridiculously well.
The Lie (#5.2)
Review: Lying, of
course, is an integral part of
Lost.
Ben Linus would be doing Chaplin
impressions if he had to give up lying.
But our favorite multi-millionaire friend trying to lie, well that’s just not
something anyone can see happening.
It’s
interesting to watch Hurley, as this episode rather ingeniously ends with
Hurley finding a lie he’s willing to tell, but also tells something about how
the line between good and evil has largely been blurred for all of the other
characters.
Sun is trying to kill
Ben, Sayid kills without consequence, Jack is willing to ruin the lives of 5
other people to clear his conscience.
This episode really introduced the cast to their new lives, and showed
that no one, with the possible exception of Kate, has gained anything from
being off the Island.
I loved the
scenes with Hurley and his parents, both of which stand up in the way that
Lost parents aren’t supposed to-with
concern and trust.
I still have
trouble believing that Jack would have so quickly told off David Reyes, but
otherwise this is a decent episode.
Hurley Dude Count: 8
Best Line: “Why
is there a dead Pakistani on my couch?” –Carmen Reyes, in the funniest line of
her run on the show
Best Moment: I’m going
to tie this one up, since they’re uniform surprises-at the beginning, we get
the pure shock of Ana Lucia, and at the end, we get the mysterious Eloise.
Episode MVP: I
really want to give this to the entire Reyes family (David, Hurley, and
Carmen), but in the end, I suppose Hurley must take the trump card.
Jughead (#5.3)
Review: I love
the way that Henry Ian Cusick says Los Angeles (I shall be adopting this
shortly) and I love the way that they named their son after both the man that
brought them together and the man that tore them apart.
This episode, as it features Desmond
and Penny, is quite wonderful, but not nearly as capable as most of the other
episodes that feature this dynamic duo.
I love that we get a little bit more Richard (and someone finally
acknowledged he has the aging properties of Jaclyn Smith), and I love that
Locke sets up Richard to come and visit him.
However, this episode really is a means to an ends, and
doesn’t finish any ground (like, say, “Jeremy Bentham” to come).
All-in-all, a good, but not
mind-blowing episode.
Really?!? with John:
You know, I think Daniel is kind of cute in a nerdy sort of way, but come
on-the actors playing his parents in this episode likely would have created a
far more conventionally attractive child.
Iconic: For the
first time, not a single member of the Oceanic Six appears in an episode (only
Sawyer and Locke appear from the original cast)
Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Blondie? Geek? Sawyer, you’re slipping badly.
Best Line: “Richard’s
always been here,” –Juliet, to John Locke (not actually always Juliet, but 150
years is a long time)
Best Moment: You’re
Charles Widmore?
Episode MVP: Sorry,
Des, but you largely just ask questions in this episode, so I’m handing this
one over to your better half-Penny gets the good lines, and keeps the mystery
alive, so hats off to her (and her first MVP status).
The Little Prince (#5.4)
Review: Poor Kate
and her sometimes rationally challenged episodes.
This has to be one of the most irrational episodes of the
series, not in the sense that it’s one of the worst (though that isn’t a super
stretch), but in the sense that I don’t even need a “Really?!?” segment, as
that’s basically the entire episode.
Kate, darling, you of the impossible beautiful eyes, when a man
blackmails you into giving up your son, the reaction is not yelling, it’s
pushing him in the damn marina.
Sun had the far more logical reaction in the next episode, imho.
That said, I liked the way that Sun and
Kate reunited in this episode.
I
love it when my quartet of heroines-Sun, Kate, Juliet, and Claire-find time to
team up together.
It always make
the show far more interesting, as it seems to be a boy’s club most of the
time.
I also loved that chilling
look on Kate’s face when Carole Littleton is mistaken for the client trying to
steal Aaron-Lilly’s eyes definitely betray a sense of, “well, she deserves
him.”
It’s an interesting scene in
a so-so episode, and aside from the final moments, probably the best.
Hurley Dude Count: 1
Best Line: “I am
Danielle. Danielle Rousseau,”
–okay, the first time, I didn’t see this coming (which was stupid), but in
hindsight, this is still a fantastic midseason twist
Best Moment: I
love the confused look in Jin’s eyes as he both encounters the young Danielle,
time travel, and French in one full swoop.
Episode MVP: Sun,
who is so wonderful in those first and final moments.
This Place is Death (#5.5)
Review: Once
again, we are treated to a transitive episode, trying to link the time moving
to the eventual (oh, it’s going to happen) stop in time motion in the next
episodes.
And, like all transitive
episodes, we get very little in the way of proper substance.
The best aspects of this episode come
from Jin’s early stories, as he sees the back story of Danielle Rousseau and
how she came to go from a spunky pregnant woman to “the crazy French chick.”
I also love the symmetry between this
and Jin’s first experiences in the Island, where he knows English but still
doesn’t quite understand the French spoken by Rousseau’s group.
The rest of the episode sort of just
skirted by, without too much progress on any front, until the very end when we
see the mysterious Eloise Hawking at her candle-lighting church.
The next few weeks would be
considerably more earth-shattering and better, so let’s just move on to them.
(Still) Unanswered
Questions: I know it was sixteen years, but why didn’t Rousseau recognize
Jin on the beach? Mistake or
something more?
Sawyer Nickname
Alert: In a first for the series, there are no nicknames (and in a second
for the series, there are absolutely no new characters introduced in this
episode)
Main Character Body
Count: Charlotte, who we spent far too little time with, if you ask me,
disappeared in the haze of time. Also, considering she grew up there, wouldn't she have clocked more island time than Jin/Sawyer-what made her die first?
Best Line: “He’s
Korean, I’m from Encino,” –Miles, to Sawyer, after he asks him to translate
Best Moment: Danielle
Rousseau, turning the tables and getting ready to fire her gun at Jin.
Episode MVP: Jin,
who outshines everyone in this fairly routine hour.
316 (#5.6)
Review: And so
the (almost) Oceanic Six return to the Island, and of course we get a
Jack-centric episode to accompany it (and, it should be noted, the new silver
in his hair is a welcome addition).
There’s something very cathartic about this episode-that they all went
there (with the possible exception of Sayid) of their own free will, that they
would be going back to the Island as a choice this time, not as a chance of
fate.
It’s also cathartic that
they had the choice not to go, as Desmond stays with his Penny in Los
Angeles (plus Walt and Aaron stay home as well).
The opening moments with
Eloise Hawking are great fun (as is basically anything involving her).
The transitive properties of this
episode are all a little sluggish (we know that everyone’s going to get onto
that plane-the why and how is just the question), but the last moments, with
Jin in a Dharma suit-amazing.
Hurley Dude Count: 2
Desmond Brother Count:
1
Pause for Station
Identification: The Lamp Post shows up, and we discover the Island’s compass.
(Still) Unanswered
Questions: Why was it that Hurley, Kate, Sayid, and Jack went back in time
while Sun, Ben, and Frank all stayed in the present day? I want an answer!
Oh, Ben: I love
that Ben lies about something as arbitrary as a throwaway joke (that his mother
taught him to read)
Best Line: “Is he
telling the truth?” –Jack “Probably not,” Eloise, both giving very honest
answers to whether Ben knew about the Lamp Post
Best Moment: Like
a lot of the Season 5 episodes, seeing Jin stroll up in his Dharma duds is just
wonderful.
Episode MVP: Jack,
who comes to terms with his own quest, and starts to become that Man of Faith
he would need to be.
The Life and Death of Jeremy
Bentham (#5.7)
Review: This
death never felt as permanent as it should have when it first happened, mostly
because I spent the remainder of a season believing that this man was brought
back to life, and so I never properly mourned.
Therefore, watching this episode in repeat is a far more
bittersweet thing.
I get to see
the last, pitiful attempts of the man of faith, Mr. Locke, and how he left the
world too trusting, too willing to sacrifice everything for an Island that
seemed to care for him too little.
I loved the way that this played out in an almost perfectly linear
fashion, as we get to revisit Sayid, Kate, Hurley, Jack, and (I’m ashamed to
say I’d forgotten about him as a “off-the-islander”) Walt.
This is such a moving episode, one that
recounts perhaps like no other one in the series, the sheer need for approval,
the desperate loneliness of our most devout castaway.
Locke’s journey ended not how it began, with him howling for
a new life, but instead broken down and realizing he may not have been worthy
of the new life.
Hurley Dude Count: 6
Main Character Body
Count: Goodbye to our Island Dreamer, Mr. Locke
Things that Make You
Go Hmm…: Charles Widmore saying that if John’s on the wrong side of the
war-is Widmore talking about Locke or the MIB, and if so, what does that mean
for his allegiances?
Best Line: “Yeah,
he’s the man who killed me,” –Locke, about Ben
Best Moment: Locke,
noose still around his head, wallowing with Ben
Episode MVP: This is one of my all-time favorites. There’s only one person who could get MVP with a John Locke
themed-episode this high, and that's Mr. Locke himself.
LaFleur (#5.8)
Review: In the
first Sawyer-centric episode in over a season (he doesn’t get one in Season 4),
we see our classic antihero transform officially from antihero to hero.
People have mentioned how Jack slowly
turned into Locke, but it’s noteworthy that while Jack was turning into Locke,
Sawyer was turning into our beloved Dr. Shepherd.
This episode completed this transformation, in some ways
quite literally, as Sawyer became the head of security for the Dharma
Initiative, and protector of the remaining castaways and their “people”
(Juliet, Miles, Daniel, and Jin).
Holloway really comes into his acting best in this episode, going from
someone without a purpose, to a man of, well, destiny.
(Still) Unanswered
Questions: Who the hell built the statue?!?
Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Plato for Faraday and Bonsai for Miles were the best, but it seems
like he doesn’t use an actual name the entire episode.
Signs of Things to
Come: Sawyer doesn’t get hit by the bullet that likely was fired at him; is
it because you can’t kill a candidate?
Best Line: “Let
me talk to him, your buddy out there with the eyeliner,” –Sawyer, referring to
Mr. Alpert
Best Moment: I
always go with anything with the Statue, so that back shot of it has to be
considered slightly better than the final moments, when Sawyer sets eyes on his
Freckles.
Episode MVP: Sawyer,
who manages to be everything for everyone.
Namaste (#5.9)
Review: I think I
said “oh, snap,” multiple times during this episode.
Sun knocks out Ben (snap).
Sawyer tells Jack that he thinks before he acts, unlike the doc (snap).
It was definitely an episode with a lot
of (deserved) comeuppance, which was nice, as this was almost completely
transitive, and largely lacked any character development (something that you
need desperately when the writers are giving you squat on the mysteries).
I loved some of Hurley’s terrific (and
likely realistic questions)-what happens when they start to discuss the Carter
administration or Elvis’s death or something?
I loved the “introductions” from Kate and Juliet.
But overall, I didn’t love this
episode, as it just didn’t get across anything we hadn’t already known before.
Hurley Dude Count: 4
Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Kong, for an appreciative Hurley
Best Line: “I
lied,” –Sun, after knocking Ben out with a paddle, in a scene that’s ten kinds
of awesome, followed up with “Nama-what?” by Hurley
Best Moment: It’s
a close call, but I have to give the slight edge to Sun knocking out Ben
(yippee!) over Sayid meeting a young Ben Linus (say what you will about Season
5, but they sure did know how to keep you coming back).
Episode MVP: I’m
going to give it to Sawyer in a slight nod over Sun and Hurley, as he manages
to finally say what he’s waited years to say in that scene with Jack.
He’s Our You (#5.10)
Review: Sayid
episodes oftentimes get a teensy bit heavy-handed, and the Dharma Initiative
episodes often seem like the castaways are running in circles, waiting for what
they are inevitably going to do (the “Incident”).
Therefore, this combination seems a huge risk, and in many
ways it doesn’t pay off.
Naveen
Andrews is a terrific actor, though, so some of his more cathartic moments are
very profitable.
I’m thinking
particularly of that scene in the bar with Ilana, the interrogation, and the
final scene with Ben.
Otherwise,
this episode has few things to lend to it, and was notoriously one of the
lowest-rated episodes of the series (though the lowest is to happen in a few
more installments).
Hurley Dude Count: 1
Sayid Laugh Alert: For
the third and final time in the series, Sayid laughs,
though he needed drugs to do it.
Best Line: “I am
a killer,” Sayid, to young Ben
Best Moment: Sayid,
taking a shot at his future employer
Episode MVP: I’m
going to give this to Sayid, as the only scenes that get up to a “Lost” standard are those that he
elevates.
Whatever Happened, Happened
(#5.11)
Review: Evangeline
Lilly’s finest hour in the series will likely end up being this terrific
interruption from the Dharmaville lives.
Kate frequently seems like a contradiction, a woman who is at times
clumsy with her heart and her head, but also was able to con and evade the law
for a number of years.
This
episode, though, seems like a realistic contradiction-a mother trying to decide
what is best for her son, and deciding that the only way she can save this
young boy was to save his mother.
Lilly gets several killer scenes, including the one in the
supermarket, the one where she is forced to give up Aaron (tears), and perhaps
most impressively, the one where she must confess to Claire’s mother what they
have been up to.
The rest of the
episode seems a bit repetitive (Jack doesn’t want to operate on Ben…again,
Locke wakes up Ben and surprises someone else by being alive…again), and though
I
loved the way that Hurley and
Miles quarreled, this really all belongs to the divine Ms. Austen, and her
constantly broken heart.
Get out the Kleenex: Kate,
saying goodbye to her little man, though thankfully not forever.
Really?!? with John: The
line from Richard about Ben not remembering because of his innocence sounds
less like Island voodoo and more like the writers trying to figure out a way to
tie up a forgotten loophole.
Best Line: I kind
of want to write Hurley and Miles’s entire conversation, but I’m going to go
with Miles’s “shoot me,” complete with a handoff of the gun.
Best Moment: Kate,
telling Claire’s mother that she will be taking care of Aaron.
Episode MVP: Gotta
go with the lovely Ms. Austen, who owns nearly every frame of this tough but
superb episode.
Dead is Dead (#5.12)
Review: I love
coming across episodes that I’d forgotten were, well, wonderful, and being
impossibly surprised by how good they are.
This is one of those episodes.
“Dead is Dead” is a late in the game marvel, and not just
because it largely sets up a strong Season 6.
We get a look at the new Locke, stronger and wilier than the
last, and a Ben Linus who is far less crafty, but still quite resourceful and
necessary.
I loved almost every
angle of this episode-the interactions in the flashbacks with Charles Widmore,
the way that Sun relies on Frank but can more than take care of herself, the
way that Ben both betrays John and tries to gain his confidence.
It’s a magnificent ode to the way the
Island itself can be a character, and in this case, highly manipulative.
(Still) Unanswered
Questions: Why was it that Ethan was spared in the attacks? Why didn’t Ilana and Bram tell Ben
about Locke’s body (which would have prevented Jacob’s death)? What was the rule that got Charles
Widmore kicked off the Island?
Irony: Ben wants
to be judged by the monster, and all he had to do was ask the man in front of
him. Also, when Ben tries to
summon the Monster, it does show up, in the form of Locke.
Best Line: “What
lies in the shadow of the Statue?” an impossibly iconic line in Lost, lore, followed by “I was just
hoping for an apology,” –Locke, to Ben, after Ben’s soliloquy of why he killed
John, coupled with Sun’s “What Temple?” a question that I love mostly because
in my mind it came out as “You people have a Temple?”
Best Moment: Ben,
seeing the swirling clouds of his daughter, followed by his quick reversal on
Cesar.
Episode MVP: Ben,
who has humility, treachery, and a little dose of, dare I say it, kindness in
this episode.
Some Like It Hoth (#5.13)
Review: Miles, of
the crew on the
Kahana, was the most
present, longest-living, and let’s face it, least interesting of the four
members of the
Kahana.
He doesn’t have Frank’s wit,
Charlotte’s moxie, or Daniel’s enigma.
He did, however, have the makings of one decent central episode, where
we discover that his father was in fact Pierre Chang.
I loved that they paired him with the Island dude, Mr.
Reyes, which provided for some superb comic relief from the sluggish Dharma
storyline.
The off-screen
storyline was one of the most boring in a long time, only really coming alive
when we see that Miles was coaxed into not coming by Bram (who is, apparently,
on the side that is going to win).
The scene at the end where he realizes that his father cared was moving,
for sure, but would have been more so if we’d gotten it from someone like
Daniel or Jack, someone we cared about more with Daddy issues
Hurley Dude Count: A season-high, 13.
Really?!? with John: Why
is it that Kate isn’t a better liar?
Seriously-she always gets
caught in lies.
Best Line: “I’m
writing Empire Strikes Back,”
–Hurley, to Miles
Best Moment: Hurley,
trying to get Dr. Chang and Miles to go for a beer.
Episode MVP: Hurley,
who gives some needed break from the march of Dharma, and some wonderful comic
relief.
The Variable (#5.14)
Review: There are
a lot of ways to take this episode, but perhaps we should just appreciate what
a unique installment it was.
Daniel,
one of the oddest “variables” (sorry, couldn’t resist) in the story, gets his
own centric storyline, and perhaps more exciting, in a way, so does Eloise Hawking, one of those great enigmatic creations that can only come out of the
minds of
Lost.
There is some messiness in this episode
(how could Daniel not see that he was falling right into the trap of fulfilling
history?), but there are so many compelling moments, it’s hard to argue with
what we’re seeing.
In particular,
those final scenes, where Eloise tells off Charles and Daniel is shot, it’s
some intensely compelling television.
I just wished there wasn’t the sense of the “obvious” surrounding it.
Hurley Dude Count: 1
Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Twitchy and H.G. Wells for Daniel, and the return of Freckles
(Still) Unanswered
Questions: What was Daniel working on in Ann Arbor?
Really?!? with John: Come
on Daniel, even I saw that you can’t change the past, and so you did all of
these things, and the “Incident” really happened.
Best Line: “Good
lord, no!” –Eloise, reacting to Penelope thinking that Ben was her son
Best Moment: Eloise,
shooting her son, followed by Eloise chatting it up with Charles.
Episode MVP: Eloise
Hawking, the constant in “The Variable”
Follow the Leader (#5.15)
Review: This is
famously the lowest-rated episode of the series, and there’s some understanding
in that-this episode doesn’t really have a centric character (though Richard
comes the closest).
It’s also the
most transitive episode of the entire series, in my opinion, as there is little
to no resolution in almost any storyline.
Jack and Sayid find the bomb, Ben, Richard, and Locke make the march to
meet Jacob, Sun is still looking for Jin, and Hurley & Miles prepare for
their head to the beach.
About the
only thing that we really learn is that Locke wants to kill Jacob, but even
that gets no resolution.
I like
the interactions with the Others (far more interesting than the Dharma folks),
but overall this is a rather mundane episode that marches us to our final,
stunning finale.
Hurley Dude Count: 3
Awesome CGI: The
Smoke Monster gets a bum rap sometimes, but the sub is awesome.
Best Line: “We’ll
buy Microsoft…and bet the Cowboys in the 1978 Super Bowl,” –Sawyer, to Juliet,
on what they’ll do for money in the real world
Best Moment: Sawyer
and Juliet, on the sub, saying “I love you”
Episode MVP: A
tough call (honestly, no one really stands out), but I’m going to give it to
Locke
The Incident, Parts 1 &
2 (#5.16)
Review: Finally,
after a sleepy season, we get the masterpiece we so deserved.
Everyone is firing on full cylinders
(except the missing Desmond) for the entire episode.
Ben and Locke on their quest to kill Jacob, Ilana with her
package full of John Locke, Juliet and Sawyer with their soon to be expired
love, Jack, Kate, Hurley, and of course, the magnificent duet of Jacob and the
MIB.
Every scene is filled with
significance, and with a sense of impending war.
I love that all of these storylines come to a head, and some
people are blinded by their own rage (Ben, Jack, Sawyer) and others suddenly
see the light (Sayid, Juliet, Richard).
The next season wouldn’t have had quite the finite urgency that it did
without this watchful, brilliant episode and the way that it unites all of the
castaways in their fight to find home and salvation.
Hurley Dude Count: 5
Get Out the Kleenex: Sawyer
drops Juliet
Really?!? with John: Roger
Linus was standing twenty feet in front of you Jack, and you couldn’t at least
nick him? Ray Charles could have
made that shot!
Best Line: “Do
you know how long I’ve wanted to kill you?” –MIB, to Jacob, followed by Rose’s
“Hell no!” and Jacob’s “you have a choice,” and Jin’s “I don’t know, but his
Korean is excellent” and Sun’s “Do you have any alcohol?”
Best Moment: So
many to chose from (Juliet banging the bomb, the inverse Lost title card, Jacob dying,
Rose & Bernard appearing), but I have to go with the iconic opening, with
MIB & Jacob finally showing their true colors
Episode MVP: While I’m giving this to
the omnipotent, handsy, and rugged Jacob, I’d also like to call out Locke, Ben,
Juliet, Sawyer, Rose, MIB, Ilana, Sun, and Richard for exemplary work, in
roughly that order.
Best Episodes
1. The Incidents, Parts 1 & 2
2. The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham
3. Dead is Dead
4. Whatever Happened, Happened
5. Because You Left
Worst Episodes
1. The Little Prince
2. Follow the Leader
3. Some Like It Hoth
Multiple MVP's
1. Hurley (2)
2. Sawyer (2)
Best Moments
1. Jacob, the MIB, and the Statue (The
Incident, Parts 1 & 2)
2. Juliet Detonates the Bomb (The
Incident, Parts 1 & 2)
3. Ben Kills Jacob (The Incident,
Parts 1 & 2)
4. John Locke Dies (The Life and Death
of Jeremy Bentham)
5. Alex Appears to Ben (Dead is Dead)
6. Rose and Bernard (The Incident,
Parts 1 & 2)
7. Kate Giving Carole Aaron (Whatever
Happened, Happened)
8. Sun Knocks Out Ben (Namaste)
9. Inverse Lost (The Incident)
10. Sayid Shoots Ben (He’s Our You)
Have So Far Received
MVP Status Every Season: Hurley, Sawyer, Locke, Sun
Number of A+/A
Episodes: 2 (The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham, The Incident, Parts 1
& 2)
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