TV Review: Lost Second Season Premiere

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Emmy award winning Lost returned to ABC’s line up in a new time slot at 9/8c with an episode titled “Man of science, Man a of faith,” a Jack-centric episode. The show opens up with an answer to the question all Lost fanatics have been waiting for. What exactly does that hatch lead down to? The first scene we see is of a man getting ready for his day - making breakfast and listening to music. Is this what has been down there all this time? This one man?

We don’t learn this for sure then because the four - Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Locke - that had gone to the hatch decide there is no way to get all the remaining crash survivors down the hatch to safety before the others arrive. If there is even any others to begin with. On the way back to the camp, Hurley tells Jack about the numbers, and his theory about how they are cursed. The first thing Jack latches on is the fact the man spent time in a mental ward causing Hurley to state that he isn’t crazy.

While they are returning, the scene switches to Shannon. She’s not had the best time since the death of her brother Boone which occurred last season. Apparently, she has lost Vincent the dog, and she is determined to search for him because he was her responsibility. She sets out into the woods with Sayid quick on her heels. They find the dog, but he runs before they can retrieve him. Separated from Sayid for the moment, she sees something that is completely unexplainable - Walt. The boy was set adrift on the raft in the show’s season finale. Shannon is adamant that she saw the boy, but no one believes her. Her state of mind is in question here. However, she saw him, and so did we the viewers.

The four enter the camp just as this discussion is taking place. Jack takes the lead here, informing the castaways about the hatch, and the fact that they will not be venturing to it. John Locke has other plans though. He wants to go down the hatch, and he doesn’t want wait. Kate joins him, and they return together to the hatch. Once they arrive, Locke makes a point that Kate would be easier to go down the hatch due to her size. She agrees, and he begins to lower her down.

This is where things get dicey. They have a few problems in the lowering, and Kate ends up at the bottom just as a bright light comes from the hatch. lex also ends up down the hatch. Jack unable to wait, follows the two to the hatch, only to find them both gone. He decides to go down to investigate finding the room the man was in at the beginning of the show. Just as he is about to push a key on a computer keyboard, the man and Locke appear - the man holding a gun to Locke’s head. He orders Jack to lower his own weapon, but Jack is stubborn, and he wants to know of Kate’s whereabouts first. The man wants the gun down now, and the episode ends with one word ... “You.” This is preceded by the man calling Jack brother.

Throughout the episode, we cut to scenes of a younger Jack as a doctor working on a case of a woman that has become paralyzed during an automobile accident. He has his doubts during the case, but pushes forward to a favorable conclusion - the woman’s recovery.

One word for this episode is wow. The pace was slow and steady, but a lot happened during this episode. Some questions were answered, and even more questions are now present for the fans of this show. Brother? Had a brother for Jack been mentioned previously? I believe so, but there is so many twists and turns to this show to keep up. If it is his brother why was he down the hatch on this lost island?

The items in the hatch appeared to be something out of the sixties. Everything from the computers to the music being played was definitely from an earlier time. What about the appearance of a silent Walt to Shannon? Did those that kidnapped him bring him back to the island where he escaped for a few moments - allowing Shannon to see him? So many questions, and not enough answers. The preview for next week’s episode promises even more answers. However, I think the more questions that are answered, the more questions that will end up popping up.

I thoroughly loved this opening to this season of Lost. it starts things off for a season that promises to be even more exciting than last season.

Want to discuss this episode of Lost? Head on over to my Lost forum over on Media Village in the Dramatic Series section.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe that the guy in the hatch was the same guy (Desmond) that Jack encountered while running the stairs. He had said he was training for a race around the world, and he called Jack "brother" in their conversation then. I don't think he was calling Jack "brother" because he was his brother, rather he was just using it as a generic name to call anyone. "How're you doing, brother?"

Then again, I could be wrong. Also, I noticed that the number depicted on the mural in the hatch was "108". Add up all of Hurley's numbers (which of course are the same ones on the outside of the hatch) and the sum is 108.

It'll be a good season. Let's hope they keep it up.

Anonymous said...

You know now that you mention, that guy does like the guy Jack met while running. They don't usually add someone in just for the fun of it. Him showing up then and now on the island just adds more questions about the connectedness of all this. Throughout the season, it seems these people have all been connected in some fashion. Sawyer knew Jack's dad. Locke worked for a box company that looks like it might have been owned by Hurley. Now this. It doesn't give us answers. Just more questions.

Anonymous said...

They were the same people. That was immediately obvious.

Anonymous said...

And don't forget that the woman Jack saved in surgery was the woman he eventually married in previous flashbacks. Also, the man Jack met while running stairs had something to do with her recovery, I think.
When Walt appeared, he said something about the button.."the button is bad" or something like that. I LOVE this show!!

 
 
 
 
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