Mostly, I really enjoyed tonight's episode of Lost. It had all the right pieces. Eko's flashback (which picked up immediately where his previous one ended) fleshed out more of his back story, and had thematic connections with the "present" on the island. We came to understand that Eko's apparent transformation and redemption following his brother's death did not happen immediately -- if indeed it fully happened at all. We learned the full reason behind why Eko was building a new church on the island (he "owed" one to his brother).
Meanwhile, intriguing new threads were exposed in the plot. Who is this crazy eye patch guy in this Yet Another Hatch? What's he doing on the island? How did he know he was being watched?
The head games with Jack finally got interesting, where they'd been somewhat aimless until this point. Ben seemed to come clean and say "no more games," dropping his plans to manipulate Jack. Juliet approached Jack covertly with a plan to instead off Ben. And yet, it seemed virtually impossible that either of them could actually be laying all the cards on the table. Are they working together? Separately? Are their agendas really what they say they are? It's far more interesting psychological brinksmanship than we'd seen before.
There was even some love for the island explanation junkies, as we saw more of "The Monster," and seemed to be shown that it can appear as a flesh and blood human (or works in tandem with someone/something that can). Perhaps this is how Jack's dead father appeared to lead him to the caves in season one? And how Kate (and Sawyer) saw the horse from her past there on the island in season two?
But then came the ending. Yes, they've killed off main characters on Lost before. I shouldn't be surprised they've done it again. You can guarantee they'll do it still more before the show is done. But after Libby left last season with so many unanswered questions, I'm pretty annoyed that they've offed another character whose role seemed far from complete on the show.
We'll never know what happened in London to Eko to change him into the man we saw for the first 60 days on the island. (Or did he even go to London?)
We'll never know how he ended up in Australia, and on flight 815.
We'll no longer have his "true faith" counterbalance to the wavering beliefs of Locke. (And we're losing it at a key juncture -- Locke appears to have had his faith restored after the destruction of the hatch, while Eko had just been revealed to not really have been the changed true believer we thought him to be... not completely, anyway.)
And essentially, we have no more "tailies." All the tail section characters introduced in season two are now gone. (Alright, Bernard is still around and reunited with Rose, but we don't see either of them regularly. In fact, we haven't seen them at all this season.) It almost begs the question of whether any of the time spent on any of the tailie storylines ultimately amounted to anything more than a temporary diversion in the whole tale. They weren't around at the beginning, they won't be around at the end.
I guess I'm reacting to this character's death more strongly than that of Boone, Ana-Lucia, or Libby... and you could argue that is evidence of it being a powerful creative decision that makes for good storytelling. But the reaction I'm having doesn't feel like a recognition of good storytelling. I feel like I've been played. I'm feeling unsatisfied, and uncertain of what they'll be able to do in just a single one-hour episode next week to make me "miss the show" while it's on a three month break.
What was your reaction?
7 comments:
Um, I pretty much think this.
Great post title! You forgot Sharon in your necrology. Anyway, the unanswered questions about Eko don't bother me, since they did do some explaining of his character and past in this episode. If you're not satisfied with the explained/unexplained ratio in Lost, if you no longer find it tantalizing and interesting, you quit watching. Right, Kathy?
Everybody has their own dosage rate. So far, I can handle more homework.
It's usually on in the background, but I'm always doing something else. I notice very little of it. If I had no computer on my lap (the B's always asleep by the time Lost comes on) and had to give the TV full attention, I'd never be able to sit still for it and I'd probably surf or put in a DVD.
This is the first episode of the season I have really enjoyed. Most episodes were okay (except the first one), but I've pretty much been watching out of loyalty to the show's past and desire to find out the "mystery." I almost didn't care about the characters anymore.
The only thing that annoyed me about Eko's death was that it seemed fairly meaningless. Dying in the hatch implosion would have been much more fitting.
I thought this episode had a good backstory, informing present actions, and a good series of plot movement with the rest of the characters. I'll watch next week and then re-evaluate my feelings on Lost.
Evan, you totally forgot "?", in which we learn about the events that put Mr. Eko on Flight 815. In it, we learn that he was masquerading as a priest for quite some time, all the way to boarding the flight.
I'm feeling better about the episode with time. I probably should watch it again. Yes, he should have died in the Hatch as David mentioned, but I think the insight in this episode was worth it.
I'm not too warm on the new characters. I have read that entire scenes are being slashed of late that appear online or will appear on the DVD. Case in point, there was a scene tonight that jumped away as the camera was focusing on the tagalongs. At least the new chick has something of a figure, a first in the Abramsiverse.
Another important point is that The Monster appeared as a bright light to Locke two seasons (months) ago. Both Charlie and Eko saw black smoke, which might mean that The Monster assumes an appearance appropriate for an occasion rather than donning subjective appearances in individuals' minds.
The "Hatch Pirate" is a welcome possible tying of a loose thread started by the discovery of items in the Arrow station on the tailies' side of the island. Is he the owner of the glass eye, the Bible, and the missing footage? Is he the ultimate key?
I still want to know what happened to Rousseau and how the Others project voices in the jungle.
David --
I agree with the things you identified in this episode as "good." You also pegged exactly what I'm trying to say annoyed me: Eko's death felt totally meaningless. I question killing him at all, for the reasons I gave. But you're right that if it had to be done, having him go in the hatch explosion would have been better. Having him survive that just to die now? Blech.
giromide --
You're right, "?" totally faded from my mind. I wonder why that is?
As for the new characters... whatever. They've done nothing yet that would make me even think they WERE new main characters, if I didn't see their names in the opening titles. They've made less of a splash than Arzt did in his time on the island. (Pun not intended.)
Well... first off the actor who plays Eko wanted to be written off the show. Seems like both parents of his died in the last year and he wanted to return to his native England.
One point... in Locke's dream where he saw Boone, Boone said Eko was in danger and he had to save him. Obviously, Boone meant to save him from the island and not the polar bear.
When Eko was talking to his 'brother' and saying why he wouldn't confess his sins... the island, which was in the form of his brother, said something to the effect of 'why are you talking to me like I'm you're brother'. This means Eko thought he was talking to his brother and not the island, because it was the island that wanted his sins to be washed cleaned. When he didn't, it killed him.
BTW... was wondering did anyone catch Ben say last week 'the sub is back' when they returned with the lady who had been shot while taking the boat? Someone at my work said Ben had said that... which would explain how they travel site unseen from one island to the other.
And as for the two new characters... I totally believe they've been setup as redshirts. Any guess how long they'll last once the show is back in February?
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