With the exception of the two first seasons, it seems like a law onto itself that every season of Lost has to start a bit ‘off’. Not necessarily bad in any easily distinguished manner; merely ‘off’. And I think the same has held true for this, the last season, until now. Episode 3, ‘The Substitute’ was the episode to finally break in the season for us. I would love to find the time when once in the future we sit down and re-watch the show from beginning to end and find out what the deciding factors are. Something tells me there’s a recurrence amongst some of the directors and writers among who that special Lost-ness really thrives.
They may be better craftsmen, but above everything else, it seems, at least for me, that there’s also another thing that usually characterizes those best episodes. Namely that they’re the character portraits. The first two episodes of this last season were mostly plot-driven, catching up on events from the previous season and setting up the events that will drive this season. Getting the pieces lined up. ‘What Kate Does’, episode 2, had its moments, but was still, at least in my opinion, more concerned with plot than character, whereas The Substitute was almost entirely character-driven.
It certainly helps that Terry O’Quinn delivers such a fantastic performance as Locke, but the episode itself was also filled to the brim with narrative glee and one amazing scene after another, all centered around the character of Locke. Yes, there’s the whole alternate timeline to keep things fresh, but it’s still pretty impressive how even after five seasons, the Lost team manages to twist and turn the character in new and fascinating ways.
I could gush over Lost all day, I really could, but if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some Fringe forums to troll.
Hey Michael,
great thoughts on that! For me the following equation fits perfect: Lost = Locke.
His Character is such a great one, because he is so full of hope and as a result he’s such a believer in destiny.
The last episode, The Substitute, was so fantastic – can’t get enough of it.
A Shame, that with every episode the end will come closer and closer! Damn ;-(
That was a good episode. And boy, did we need it. Episode 1 was off all right. A Dennis Hopper hippie, a samurai in a leather vest, a Dirty Hot Tub Temple…we were headed straight towards jumping the Dharma shark.
I just hope they got it all out of their system. We don’t have time for lazy filler episodes like “What Kate Does.” Really? Kate can track Claire down walking from LAX? Despite the hundreds of directions she could have gone in (why didn’t she take cab?) and then Claire accepts the ride? The mechanic gets Kate out of her handcuffs and laughs off her murder rap? There’s no reason for this kind of slack writing, not on a show that has kept aloft such a dizzying array of great plotlines for this long. Abrams better not be headed toward another finale implosion like we saw with Alias.
Postponed reading this until I’d seen the episode. Which is now.
Needless to say, I absolutely loved it, and completely agree that some of the episodes are just levels better than the rest. The Constant, also comes to mind, despite that one being ridiculous on a sci fi level. The story was delightful.
Which — as I’ve also written about at length on my blog recently — on another level, worries me.
Spoiler warnings.
So as I conject: while I expect these, our favourite writers on tv, to “explain” all the mysteries I care about, I’m worried about some of the answers. Take the numbers, for instance: fake Locke says “Jacob has a thing for numbers”. I almost think that’s all the explanation we’ll get. Which is not satisfying. But which is okay if they can just drop some more episodes like this on us, this season.
I almost don’t want any answers. And I also suspect we won’t get all the answers, which is fine by me (Battlestar, I’m looking at you).
I agree with you on the level that I’d rather want no answer than a bad answer.