Lost Re-view: The Other 48 Days

Lost's next episode was a very significant one for the series -- and so, not surprisingly, it was written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. It was directed by first timer Eric Laneuville, who would direct a handful more episodes throughout the run.

For the first time ever, the timeline of the narrative was strictly linear, containing no nested flashbacks. That said, the entire episode was a flashback, covering what happened to the tail section survivors since the day they crashed on the Island. It is, to a fair extent, like an alternate pilot episode to a parallel universe version of the series, and could almost even serve as an entry point for new viewers if not for its rather tight compression of 48 days into 45 minutes.

The show opens with a pastoral view of a choppy surf crashing on a tropical shore. But then aircraft debris rains down, and the tail section of Oceanic 815 crashes into the ocean. The screen cuts to black to tell us this is "Day 1."

Just as the Lost pilot opened with chaos on the shore, we see a series of chaotic moments among the tail section survivors. Ana Lucia is initially in shock, but quickly springs into action helping people. Mr. Eko rescues a young boy from the water, along with his sister, who isn't breathing. Ana Lucia successfully resuscitates her, and promises to her that she'll get both of them back to their mother in Los Angeles. We see Libby set a broken bone with an odd bedside manner that is somehow simultaneously reassuring and a bit creepy. (Perhaps a tiny hint of the mental illness in her past?)

Next, Goodwin appears on the scene -- a man we would learn later was sent by the "Others," Ben's group, to infiltrate the survivors. He brings Ana Lucia into the jungle, where Bernard is trapped in his airplane seat, in a tree dozens of feet off the ground. She talks him through climbing out to safety just as the branch gives way.

As the first day wears on, we see several small scenes of characters getting to know each other. Goodwin starts a fire with sticks, telling Ana Lucia he was in the Peace Corps. Bernard asks Eko if his wife was among the bodies pulled from the water. Eko pledges to pray for her -- and for rescue.

When everyone eventually goes to sleep, they're awakened by screaming and the sounds of a struggle. Several people have been carted off into the jungle. Eko has managed to stop two of the intruders, killing them with his bare hands, but he is too horrified by what he has done to explain anything. My the time day 2 begins, he has shed his blood-strained shirt, and vowed to remain silent as penance for his act. He breaks off a tree branch, beginning to create the staff that will now be with him at all times.

In the light of day 2, Ana Lucia tries to ID the intruders, but they have no wallets -- and no shoes. It appears they were here on the island before the plane survivors, and they pose a threat. She wants to move everyone off the beach for safety, but a suspicious man named Nathan argues this will greatly reduce their chance of rescue. Flight attendant Cindy reveals that indeed, before the crash, the plane had been flying off course for two hours -- rescue planes won't be looking in the right place right away.

Several more days pass in rapid succession. Day 3: the infection in the leg Libby set for another survivor is spreading, and there's nothing they can do. Day 5: That man is now dead, and being buried in a field already filled with several graves. Day 7: Eko is carving the first of his scriptures into his staff. Libby tries to tell him he was defending himself, and that the deaths weren't his fault, but he isn't having any of it.

Then comes day 12, opening with Nathan returning suspiciously from a solitary bathroom trip into the jungle. That night, the Others come again to abduct nine more people in their sleep, including the kids. Ana Lucia grabs a rock to fight one off, unintentionally killing him before he can be questioned. She finds a knife on him, and a list of names -- the exact nine people who went missing, complete with descriptions.

As Ana Lucia tries to figure out what is happening, she lashes out at Nathan. Goodwin, seeking to solidify his cover, comes to Nathan's rescue. (In a fun camera cut, Bernard says "why would they try to infiltrate us? It's crazy!" right before a cut to Goodwin's face.) This time, when Libby suggests they have to leave the beach, no one objects.

On Day 15, the group arrives at a stream in the jungle. The tension is clear, because when Nathan suggests they set up a camp there, everyone else seems to be expecting a fight. Instead, Ana Lucia agrees... though two days later, she's beginning to dig a hole in the the jungle that will become the deep "prisoner pit" we've seen in earlier episodes.

On Day 19, Ana Lucia makes her move. She gives Nathan a boot to the head and drags him into her completed makeshift cell. She explains to the group that she never recalled seeing him on the plane, a fact Cindy corroborates even as Goodwin tries to downplay it. The interrogations begin -- but Nathan knows nothing of where the missing kids are, revealing only personal information that Ana Lucia suspects of being a manufactured backstory.

The interrogations continue until Day 23, when Ana Lucia discovers that someone has been sneaking food to Nathan. The someone is revealed to be Eko, but he still refuses to speak in defense of his actions. Goodwin also tries to reason with Ana Lucia, but she explains why she's been so driven in this -- she promised that girl she'd get her back to her mother. She implies that tomorrow, she'll cut off one of Nathan's fingers to get him to talk.

That night, Goodwin reveals himself to the audience. He frees Nathan from the pit, warning him to flee before Ana Lucia does something to him. But the moment he turns to leave, Goodwin snaps his neck.

On the morning of Day 24, Nathan is discovered missing, and Ana Lucia declares it's no longer safe to be there -- it's time to move.

On Day 27, they discover the abandoned Dharma bunker, the Arrow, and go inside. Besides the ominous "Quarantine" stamp on the inside of the door, they find several things that connect to other episodes. Eko finds a Bible with something hidden inside we don't get to see this episode (though it's the piece of missing orientation film that will be dealt with later in the season). They find a glass eye (that perhaps was meant to connect to the character of Mikhail, introduced later -- though his missing eye was scarred over). And most significantly, they find a radio.

Goodwin wants to take the radio to higher ground to try to get a signal, but Ana Lucia politely insists on going with him. She questions him on the hike -- why are they taking people? Where did they get the army knife she found? (Not that it's a major mystery of Lost, but we do eventually get the answer to that one in the fifth season -- it probably came from one of the soldiers that brought the Jughead bomb to the Island during the 1950s.)

And then Ana Lucia drops the pretense. She knows Goodwin is one of Them. Probably spotted by Bernard in the jungle while he was up in the tree, so he had to pretend to be one of them. (Not quite right.) He showed up not even wet from the ocean; he'd been there already. (Right.) Goodwin cryptically explains that "good people" get to go on "the list" before attacking Ana Lucia. But she gets the best of him, impaling him on a spear and leaving him dead in the jungle. Safe now from The Others, the group decides to stay in the bunker.

The next scene is over a week later, on Day 41. Bernard has been trying the radio for a few minutes every day without luck. On this day, Boone is in the cockpit of the crashed Nigerian plane (as seen in an earlier episode) and makes brief contact. But when Boone identifies himself as an Oceanic 815 survivor, Ana Lucia switches off the radio. She believes it's a ruse by the Others to try to draw them out of hiding. There are no other survivors, she says. "This is our life now. Get used to it."

And apparently, saying those words aloud are more than she can bear. She slips off into the jungle alone and breaks down sobbing. Eko finds her there, and tells her she's going to be okay. It leads to a short but truly brilliant and moving exchange between them. "You've been waiting 40 days to talk?" Ana Lucia asks. "You waited 40 days to cry," counters Eko.

On Day 45, Cindy and Libby are fishing by the shore when Jin washes up unconscious. Ana Lucia doesn't trust him, she says owing to Jin's handcuff. But she's suspicious of everyone after having been duped by Goodwin. As she's debating this with Eko, Jin escapes from where he's been left tied to a tree, and runs out to the shore just in time for Sawyer and Michael to arrive.

Things really accelerate from here, as Michael Giacchino introduces a pulsing, percussive musical theme that marks the "two tribes" of Oceanic survivors inexorably coming together. We see a soundless montage of events from the last several episodes, leading up to...

Day 48. Today. Cindy has gone missing. The Whispers are frightening the group. And when something emerges from the jungle, Ana Lucia shoots without thinking. Shannon falls dead, as Sayid comes to scoop her up in his arms. This episode ends precisely as the last one did.

Overall, this is a very effective episode of Lost. It provides greater context and humanity for the tail section characters, particularly Ana Lucia (who we've never seen be vulnerable before this episode) and Eko (who we now understand is a very conflicted man, deeply haunted by the prospect of violence).

On top of these great character moments, we get to see a fun alternate scenario of what things might have been like for our regular cast, had they not been so well off on their side of the Island. We see an interesting contrast between the two Others infiltrators -- Ethan, who was never suspected until he made his move to abduct Claire; and Goodwin, who was constantly trying to defuse the notion of an infiltrator in the group, lest suspicion fall on him.

The only points I'd dock from this episode ultimately come from how short it is. The Lost pilot itself was a double length episode. This episode is like "the pilot for the tail section," and covers not just those first two days, but the entire season-and-a-quarter up to this point. Even if we really are only seeing the high points here, I can't help but feel like a few more interesting stories could have been told in this period of time for the show's newest regular characters.

Still, it's the strongest season two episode since the opener. I grade it an A-.