Now we're getting back on track.Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and The Others all took a week off in this episode of Lost, and I didn't really miss them all that much. Instead, we got a very compelling episode dealing with Desmond.
And it was a very different type of storytelling for Lost as well. It's a very interesting technique in the writing that this tale of "time travel" and deja vu was actually just about the most linear episode of Lost ever. All the material on The Island was presented at the beginning and the end, and all the "flashback" was presented in an uninterrupted progression in the middle. The "soft whoosh" sound effect of transitioning to the past got to take a bit of a rest this week.
Charlie's on the chopping block, according to Desmond's visions. And Desmond is already coming to believe that the inevitable cannot be avoided, only postponed. Is he right? Well, they're obviously willing to kill off main characters on Lost -- they've done it many times before. And Charlie's not quite in the "untouchable" stable of characters that is Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Locke. So it is possible. But it's also a very different thing for Lost to give warning of a character death like this -- all the other dead major characters have been offed in sudden ways designed to surprise and shock.
I suppose maybe these differences in storytelling are exactly the reason I responded so favorably to this episode, because differences were exactly what I was craving after the first batch of six this season.
3 comments:
I hate time travel. But I loved this episode! And what a cool plot device... "Uh oh, Charlie's in danger! Is this where he gets killed? Oh, he was saved at the last minute... maybe next time..."
I really enjoyed this episode. Maybe because I am really tired of Jack, Kate and Sawyer. I'm sorry, but a half season of them in cages did NOTHING for me. Especially since we didn't learn squat about the Others in that whole time.
Very good episode. A bit of a downer, but very good.
When he first appeared, Desmond became one of my top three favorite characters next to Locke and Eko. I guess I'm a sucker for the spiritual type.
This sets up another interesting predesintation-versus-free-will scenario. Desmond has convinced himself that he can't fight "the will of the universe," but the writers kept things pretty open.
Alan Dale was great, as was Fionnula Flanagan, who was given quite a meaty guest spot. And she got to say "sodding" on American TV. My wife, an avid "Ugly Betty" fan, loved seeing Dale play an even worse version of his "Ugly Betty" character.
There was a touch of Odyssey Five and the "wild card principle" that ended up not playing out, but it was still neat for as long as it lasted.
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