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Jack - Matthew Fox Kate - Evangeline Lilly Locke - Terry O'Quinn Sayid - Naveen Andrews Sawyer - Josh Holloway Hurley - Jorge Garcia Charlie - Dominic Monaghan Walt - Malcolm David Kelley Sun - Yunjin Kim Jin - Daniel Dae Kim Claire - Emilie de Ravin Eko - Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Benjamin Linus - Michael Emerson Juliet - Elizabeth Mitchell Desmond- Henry Ian Cusick 
OTHER LOST SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 OTHER LOST TRAVELLERS The Fantastic Journey Logan's Run 
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A Tale of Two CitiesA pleasant suburb, a book club meeting. There's what appears to be an earthquake and they all rush outside to see a plane crashing over their heads. This is the home of the Others and they swing into action. It's a hell of an opening and in case you hadn't guessed it, LOST is back. If you thought that the opening of the hatch was going to give you all the answers then you were wrong. LOST is back and it's not changed very much. Jack's locked up in a glass case and is being questioned by a female Other. She seems to know everything about him. When she brings him food, he tries to escape and finds out where he is in the most dramatic way. Kate is put in a dress, invited to breakfast with Henry, told that the next two weeks are going to be unpleasant and put into a cage near Sawyer, who has already tried to escape once. There's plenty of plot and plenty of action and LOST is kicking off it's new mini series (6 episodes now, the rest later) in fine style. The flashbacks to Jack's past are unnecessary and pretty much get in the way, but they finally make a point about Jack's character in the end. As well as the principals, Micahel Emerson gets to continue his role as Henry from last season, although his name appears to be Ben. Elizabeth Mitchell also makes a big impact as Juliet, Jack's interrogator. TopThe Glass BallerinaJin, Sun and Sayid decide that they cannot stay at the dummy village and have to try and light another fire to bring Jack and their other friends back to them. Sayid, though, thinks that they have been captured and wants to use the fire as a trap. That backfires when the Others circumvent the trap and start to steal the boat with Sun on board. Sawyer and Kate are put to work, but Sawyer attempts another escape, which involves some serious snogging with Kate. Jack finds out Henry's real name and that they have access to the outside world. He is also made an offer by Henry (sorry, Benjamin). In true LOST style, what's happening in the here and now (although it's actually the there and then since they've been on the island for only 60 odd days whilst we've had two years of this) is good stuff with plenty of action and some interesting revelations about the others, though not anything that explains very much. The problem with the flashbacks. This time it's more on Sun and Jin and it really has nothing to do with the rest of the plot and drags the whole episode down. If you edited them out you'd have a shorter, but better episode. TopFurther InstructionsFollowing the explosion of light in the hatch at the tail end of season 2, Locke wakes up to find that Eko has gone missing. He goes into a native american sweat chamber to reach his spirit guide and Boone appears to tell him to clean up his own mess. With Charlie's help, he sets off to reclaim Eko from the polar bear that took him. Desmond ends up with the returning Hurley who realises that the man has somehow fallen out of time. For once, the main plotline of LOST would probably be less interesting than the flashback if this particular flashback is particularly pointless and annoying. It serves only to give Eko a punchline and a weak one at that. The action with the polar bear is fluffed, probably because of the cost of animating the CGI bear and the human element is nothing new and nothing very exciting. LOST hasn't been this dull for some time. TopEvery Man for HimselfFollowing an abortive escape attempt, Sawyer is fitted with a pacemaker that is programmed to cause his heart to explode if his heart starts to beat too fast, thus ensuring his coo-operation. Kate and Sawyer's relationship strengthens for being in adjoining cages. Jack, meanwhile, is brought in to save the Other that Sun shot on the boat. Back at the beach, Desmond is still showing signs of being able to tell the future. Back with the internees and the story improves again on the disappointment of last week. The Others' treatment of Sawyer plays on all his weaknesses, which are further revealed by this week's dull and predictable flashback. The reveal at the end, that the internees are on a second island just off the coast of the first takes us back to the shot of the Others' village in A Tale of Two Cities and wondering how the hell the plane survivors never saw that in all the time that they've been exploring the island. Still, there's more than enough unexplained stuff, so one more inconsistency isn't going to harm. TopThe Cost of LivingMr Eko, saved from the polar bear cave, has a vision of his brother telling him to come for judgement. Injured though he is and suffering flashbacks to his past, he heads for the plane holding his brother's corpse. Locke, meanwhile has realised that there must be a communications system in the hatch under the same plane. Jack, meanwhile, realises that the dying person whose x-rays he saw was in fact Ben and Juliet plans for Jack to kill him on the operating table. There is so much going on in this episode that it's hard to know where to start. It's clearly the penultimate episode of this mini-season because the foundations are being laid for so many cliffhangers. The most interesting of these is going to be the Ben, Jack, Juliet scenario. Are they still playing Jack, is Juliet playing Jack or is everyone on the level? Meanwhile, there's a new man in a new hatch (and he wears an eyepatch!). Not to mention, of course, the reappearance of the smoke monster and Eko's warning that the survivors are next. Roll on next week TopI DoBen is desperate for Jack to carry out the operation to save his life. He threatens Sawyer to get Kate to ask Jack, which has the opposite effect. When Kate and Sawyer then get intimate, Jack relents and starts the operation, but leaves Ben slowly bleeding to death in order to get some leverage to free his friends. That's it then, the six week, mini-series comes to an end on a cliffhanger that is, quite frankly, a bit of a damp squib. Admittedly, Ben's on the edge of death and Jack's throwing his weight around and Sawyer was seconds from death, but the actual cliffhanger is whether Kate will decide to go or not. Pretty lame. For the rest of it, there are enough hints about future plotlines to keep us coming back a bit longer. Ben's life is in the balance, Locke and co have a direction given to them posthumously by Mr Eko, Rousseau's stolen daughter pops up and is hauled away (to no effect here so clearly a future plot point) and, of course, there's mystery eye-patch man from last week. The flashback features a cameo from Nathan Fillion (Firefly) and shows that Kate is capable of loving, but adds nothing else to the mix. The tension, though, when Sawyer is hauled out of the cage and about to be executed is really taut and would have served a better point at which to cut until the second part of season three comes along later in the year. TopNot in PortlandWhilst Ben lies on the operating table, Jack's plan to free Kate and Sawyer starts to go awry. With the Others in pursuit, Kate an Sawyer encounter an unexpected ally, but their fate relies on what Ben said to Juliet. LOST is back after its layoff and it's like it was never away. We're thrust straight into the action at the point we left it and it rattles along in that way that covers a lot of ground and gets precisely nowhere. The flashback of the week belongs to Juliet, explaining how she came to be on the island and what Ben said that so affects her decision-making, but is (traditionally) otherwise completely irrelevant. The cast are as on form as always and it seems that the extended break has affected nothing. Roll on the rest of the second part of series 3. TopFlashes Before Your EyesSince turning the failsafe key, Desmond has been able to see flashes of the future. When he is challenged about it by Charlie, he flashes back to the moment of the failsafe and how he passed back in time and had a chance to do it all again, only better. Unfortunately, the universe has a way of self-correcting and it self-corrects him right back to the island again. Since the start, the flashbacks have been the weakest and most annoying aspect of the whole LOST experience. Now we get a flashback to a flashback which is a flashback too far. To be fair, the fact that Desmond may have passed through time gives it a bit more edge and the fact that it's set in the UK means that we British get a chance to bitch about how Hollywood portrays us. You never quite know where it's going and it does hold the attention quite nicely. It does not, of course, move any plotline forward an inch, which will further erode viewer patience. The final reveal of just what Desmond has been trying to do with his future sight is pretty chilling though. TopStranger in a Strange LandThe consequences of Juliet's killing one of her own in allowing Sawyer and Kate to escape are coming home to roost. She is to be executed and the only one who can save her is Ben. Fortunately, his wound has become infected, which means that Jack has another bargaining chip. The whole flashback sequence in this episode is to explain the tattoos on Jack's arm. The revelation of what they say doesn't shake the world and this episode won't shake yours. That said, it's still LOST and we've invested a lot of time into these characters. We still want to know what's going to happen to them. There are plots building up, plots within plots, but none of them are going anywhere fast and most of the cast have been forgotten for season 3. I hope they still got paid full time. TopTricia Tanaka is DeadHurley finds a volkswagen camper van in the jungle and getting it started turns into an obsession with him. Kate and Sawyer make it back to the camp, but she immediately sets off to find help in getting Jack back. There's not been a whole lot of light in LOST recently, so it's nice to see a little of the playfulness back. Hurley's your perfect character for that and he proves to be at the very heart of this episode. True, his flashback is as tedious as most of the others have been, Cheech Marin notwithstanding (although it does see a fast food shack taken out by a meteor), but what happens on the island is funny and exciting and even touching. What a relief after all the doom and gloom so far in this third season. TopEnter 77Kate, sayid, Locke and Rousseau find a communication centre deep in the jungle. Whilst Sayid flashes back to a painful passage of his life, he tries to wheedle out the truth from the man with the eyepatch. Locke, plays a game with the computer that then asks him to enter a number. There are times when it's OK to feel so much superior to the characters in this show and this is two of those times. First off, Sawyer challenges Hurley to a game of ping pong when it is quite clear from the efforts that he has gone to to set up a table that he is something of a player. The outcome, therefore isn't much in doubt. This, at least, has a certain fun value. Then there's Locke who has a thing about inputting numbers. It's obvious that he shouldn't enter 77. It's also obvious that he's going to. One again, the events on the island are interesting, the flashback is just annoying. TopPar AvionClaire is driven to distraction by the strange behaviour of Charlie and Desmond, neither of whom seem interested in her scheme to catch a migratory bird to attach a message to. Kate, Sayid, Locke and Rousseau, meanwhile, find a sonic defence net surrounding the Others' village. Just when you think you're going to spend another review complaining about the flashbacks, Claire's story brings up a surprising relationship that makes it worthwhile. The rescuers going after Jack also get an interesting puzzle to solve. The main plot, as ever, gets no closer to resolution. As usual, it doesn't seem to matter. TopThe Man From TallahasseeKate makes contact with Jack, but is immediately taken prisoner along with Sayid. Locke, however, gets into Ben's house and reveals that he's not here to rescue Jack, but for the submarine that is the only contact with the rest of the world. Jack explains his strange behaviour to Kate and we finally learn how Locke came to be in a wheelchair. There remains, however, one final twist to the tale. We like LOST. It's a classy show which is rarely less than interesting, although there are times when it is also irritating in the extreme. On the other hand, every now and then it comes up with an episode that just makes you go 'Wow!' and this is one of those episodes. Firstly there's a flashback that actually adds to the events on the island rather than distracting from them. Locke's history hasn't been the most believable, but it has been consistently one of the most entertaining. This time, it ties right into the final twist, again not even remotely believable, but entertaining. You know life would be a lot easier if Jack and Kate just got to the point and told each other how much they fancy each other, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. What might happen is that we might get some real answers about the island. Ben talks to Locke about a magic box, but that might just be the start of some real revelations in episodes to come. We can hope. TopExposeNikki and Paolo have been on the island as long as everyone else, but they haven't made much of an impact. They, however, have a secret that has coloured every moment of their time on the island. In this episode, we follow them through their time, touching on events that are both familiar and new. This is a great episode in that it has a tight plot, a nice ending twist and plays games with everything that has gone before it. Admittedly, it distracts from the main thrust of the plot, but then that hasn't been thrusting anywhere in any great hurry so it really isn't a big loss. Sit back and enjoy a story based around two of the folks in the background. TopLeft BehindThe Others gas their prisoners and disappear. Kate wakes up handcuffed to Juliet in the jungle. They set off back to the Ohters' houses, but run into the path of the giant smoke monster. Hurley tricks Sawyer into being more than he thought he could be and more than he certainly wants to be. Great island-based story that fascinates whilst never ever illuminating anything. It's such class drama, but it's no surprise that audience numbers are declining as nothing ever gets explained. The flashbacks tell us something that we didn't need to know about Sawyer's past, but are otherwise just a really annoying distraction. Maybe the DVD should have 'no flashbacks' feature. TopOne of UsJack, Sayid and Kate make it back to the beach with Juliet in tow. Whilst everyone is ecstatic at the return of their fellows, Juliet's reception is much more lukewarm. Then Claire falls ill and Juliet has to admit that she was responsible, but knows how to fix the problem. You want to know why Claire was kidnapped? You want to know why she was being shot full of green liquid? You want to know what Juliet was doing on the island? You want to know if she really has been abandoned by the Others? Yes, for once LOST gives out some of the answers. Admittedly, some of these just lead to more questions, but that's OK. And the final minutes when the truth about this and last week's episode Left Behind is revealed sets up for some interesting future developments. TopCatch 22Desmond has another flash vision of Charlie getting an arrow through the neck. The same vision includes the arrival of someone on the island, someone who just might be his beloved Penny come to rescue them all. In order to find her, he has to let events play out exactly as in his vision, but that means that Charlie has to die. An excellent episode this thanks to an opening scene where Charlie gets the arrow in the throat with brutal clarity, lending an edge to everythin that follows on the island. Trouble is that we know Desmond enough now not to truly believe that he would go through with letting Charlie die. The flashback sucks though. And if Kate and Jack don't sort out their heads and tell each other that they've got the hots for each other then the audience will be clamouring for them to get killed off. TopD.O.C.The woman who parachuted from the crashing helicopter in the last episode is dying, but a surprise visit by the manw ith the eyepatch (last seen dead) might be the key to saving her. Sun learns that her pregnancy will either prove to be from a man other than her husband or the source of her own death. Not exactly the best news. This week's episode is really quite dull, something that doesn't happen all that often. The flashback adds only a tiny bit of information that we didn't already know about the relationship between Jin and Sun and it's information that we could really care less about. The whole Sun strand is basically it takes 50 minutes for her to learn that the baby is Jin's and her life is in danger. A two minute conversation could probably have sorted that out. D.O.C. stands for date of conception by the way. The other strand with Desmond and his parachutist also doesn't go anywhere fast. This is the kind of episode that has the show bleeding viewers in the US and threatening its future. TopThe BrigJohn Locke walks out of the jungle and tricks Sawyer into the brig of the old sailing ship where his father is chained up. Ben has told Locke that he can go no further with the others until he kills his father. Something that he cannot do himself, but he believes he can goad Sawyer into. The sudden appearance of Locke's father on the island at the end of The Man From Tallahassee was one of the more unbelievable twists that LOST has come up with, but it does here generate a wonderful episode. Whilst tedious flashbacks have revealed the story between father and son, the revelation of the link between Locke's father and Sawyer is masterful - one of those strokes of sheer genius that makes us forgive the padding, the stringing out of mysteries and the tedious flashbacks. Interesting that Locke's dad should confirm Naomi (parachute girl)'s story of the plane being found on the sea bed with all the bodies on board. Where does that leave everyone? In hell, says Locke Snr, but can you die if you're already in hell? Other plot strands are starting to come together for the climax with Jack and Juliet keeping secrets, Locke revealing that the others are going to attack the camp and kidnap the women and handing Sawyer proof that Juliet is still working for the Others. TopThe Man Behind the CurtainJohn Locke carries his dead father into the camp of the Others and demands the secrets of the island. Ben is forced to reveal that he answers to a man called Jacob, a man who turns out to be invisible, or is he? Meanwhile, Sawyer reveals to the survivors that Juliet is still working for the Others just in time for Jack to reveal that she is not and he has a plan. The flashback here belongs to Ben and tells a lot of the history of the Dharma initiative. It was set up to study the island's unique properties, but there were hostiles on the island already and one of those befriended Ben and used him to destroy the initiative. A man who is capable of killing an entire community is one not to be taken lightly as Locke finds out. For once (and this has to be unique) the flashbacks are more interesting than the main story. Whilst we learn a lot of small details in the flashbacks, the main story barely moves and Locke is introduced to an invisible force that might be a man. That's it. It is clear that we are approaching the finale and everything is being set up for that. Tension is getting higher and there can be no doubt that we'll be there. TopGreatest HitsDesmond sees Charlie die one more time in a flash, but part of the flash shows Claire and the other survivors getting onto rescue helicopters. Jack's plan is to blow up the Others when they attack with dynamite from the Black Rock ship, but Ben moves his agenda forwards so that there is not enough time. The dynamite will have to be triggered by people staying to shoot it and Charlie is going to have to swim down to the abandoned underwater station. OK< so Charlie knows he's going to die and we see the five happiest moments of his life in reverse order. This is not just uninteresting, it is tiresome. Note to the producers - in a fourth season please ditch the sodding flashbacks. Everything else, though, is quality stuff. If you're coming in at a late stage in the show then you will not have a hope of getting what is going on, so rent the DVDs and come back when you've caught up with the rest of us. One double length finale to go. It's exciting stuff and this is why we still love LOST. TopThrough The Looking Glass Parts 1 & 2The Others arrive at the camp and several get blown up, but Sayid, Jin and Bernard are captured. Desmond joins Charlie in the underwater station to see if he can prevent Charlie's drowning and stop the jamming signal. With the signal gone, Jack can contact the ship off shore, but Ben is determined to prevent that, as is Locke. Well, how much plot can you pour into a double length finale? All of the plot threads come together in an action packed adventure that kills of a good number of the Others, not to mention some of the good guys, except that nobody's really sure who the good guys are after all. It's exciting, brutal and full of twists. With this kind of storytelling we can forgive a lot of the problems that the show has. The flashback isn't a flashback, but is a flashforward, showing what Jack's life might be if they escape the island. Not exactly a cliffhanger then, but enough of a teasing mystery to ensure that if season four happens then we will be there to see it. You even manage to forget in all the action that you haven't learned very much else about the secrets of the island. Top |
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