TV Review: Lost Episode 2.08

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

From ABC: Tempers flare when Ana Lucia and her group stumble upon Sayid and the other castaways.

My Rating: 4 out of 4

Tonight's episode of Lost titled 'Collision' was probably the most powerful episode of the season so far in my opinion. So much happened, and everyone was involved in tonight's episode. This was also an Ana Lucia flashback episode, so we finally learn some of her secrets. We finally know why she is the way she is, and it made me like her just a bit more. I know Ana Lucia is getting a lot of flack throughout the fandom for killing Shannon, but with tonight's episode we finally know why she is so hard.  She really had it rough back home in Los Angeles. We'll get back to that though.

This episode picks up right where the last two episodes had left off. Yes, remember we did the same thing they did with the premiere episodes this season. We saw a scene play out on two different episodes from different points of view. Not sure how much I like this plot device in this show, but its working for now. Let's hope the writers don't overuse it.

As soon as Sayid sees Shannon is dead, he goes after Ana Lucia, and Eko then takes him down. A battle ensues, and Ana Lucia finally takes Sayid captive. She seems really unstable in this scene, and during this entire episode. She has them tie Sayid up to a tree, but no one really wants to do it. It is understandable why he lashed out. The woman he loved just got shot. Anyone in his place would act in the same manner.

They all want to head back to the camp, but Ana Lucia is determined to stay where she is. Eko makes a decision on his own to take Sawyer to the camp and find the doctor. He leaves against her wishes, but she can't do anything to stop him. He carries Sawyer on his back because they used the vines on his make shift stretcher to tie up Sayid. He does find Jack and Kate, and we have a tense moment, but we then see Jack taking him and Sawyer to the hatch.

This is the first time hatch has made an appearance in awhile. You had to wonder why such a big deal was made about it in earlier episodes this season because it appeared to be all forgotten in more recent episode airings. The hatch is still there; Locke is on button duty this time around. Jack has Kate help him treat Sawyer, and we can see that Kate is obviously affected by the reappearance of Sawyer.

The two treat him, and Sawyer is really bad off in this episode. Jack goes to work on trying to set things right, and then he leaves Kate to watch over him. He finds out from Eko about Shannon, and his first thought is of revenge, especially when Michael shows up after finding Sun. Ana Lucia has sent him back to the camp to obtain a few items for herself – basic necessities of survival on the island type stuff. Eko stops Jack and Michael as they are about to leave the hatch to go back to find Ana Lucia and the others. Eko is able to talk some sense into Jack, and they leave together for the others.

By the time they arrive though Ana Lucia has let everyone else go, except for Sayid. When the two are alone, we learn even more about Ana Lucia. The two swap stories about their lives, and what they have done. Ana Lucia doesn't tell him everything though. We learn a lot about Ana Lucia in this episode. We learn she is a cop from the L.A.P.D., and she was shot on duty. The man that shot her used hollow points that were able to pierce through her bulletproof vest. Now she is a bit on the trigger-happy side. This explains why she shot Shannon so quickly.

We also learn that instead of allowing the man be arrested and tried, she finds him herself once the police find him, and she kills him. Turns out when she was shot, she was pregnant. So now we can really understand why she is so worried about the children, and why she is as cold as she is. She already considers herself dead, and so does Sayid. Now with Shannon gone, he really has nothing on the island to live for. These two actually bond, and for some reason I think we'll see these two connect on some level eventually. Not immediately, but eventually.

We had some lighter moments during this episode as well. Earlier in the episode before the arrival of Sawyer is returned, Kate and Jack partake in a friendly game of golf. I love when these two bounce off of either with their one-liners. They are fun and flirty and just plain great, but I think we're really seeing who will win Kate's heart here, unless something drastic happens. It just might because the previews for next week really hinted at some changes on the way.

We also see the rest of the survivors reach the camp of the front-enders. Michael is reunited with Vincent, Jin is reunited with Sun, and we finally see Bernard reunited with his wife Rose. She never gave up hope. She was adamant that he was indeed alive, and she was right. This final scene of the episode definitely made me cry. It was great to see everyone back together, and it was just in time for Thanksgiving tomorrow too. Nice touch by Lost I think.

This episode was just amazing. The right mix of humor early on with powerful scenes and emotions throughout. I really enjoyed this episode a great deal. We have another new episode coming to us next week.

If you missed tonight's episode, you can download it via Itunes tomorrow. Check for the link to that on my sidebar! Don't forget, if you want to discuss this episode with others, you can hop on over to my discussion topic for tonight's episode at the Media Village forums here.