Hey, so I just recieved my preordered copy of Lost: The Complete Series, and I’ve decided that I want to rewatch all of the episodes from beginning to end. I thought I might share my journey with you through a series of short and simple (and likely shoddily written) reviews of each one. Feel free to comment, share your own ideas and the like... And be aware of SPOILERS! There will be many, I’m sure. --------------------------------------------- 1.01 --- Pilot Eyes open. Blink. We enter the world of Lost without a second thought. As this unknown character lays in the jungle, staring up at the sky, slightly muddied with blood, he looks confused. He looks jumbled. He doesn’t know where he is and neither do we. The way it was filmed, the way it was acted – we feel what he feels. Utter confusion. Finally, after being awakened by a dog (later learned to be Vincent, Walt’s dog) this character gets to his feet, finds a sampler of vodka in his pocket, and runs through the grove – passing a mysterious white tennis shoe hanging froma tree. The character emerges onto a pristine beach, everything seems fine. We remain confused. Then we hear screaming, desperation, engine sounds. He turns and the camera pans to the incredibly wrecked mid-section of a plane – Oceanic Flight 815. We go through an intense sequence of this first character – Jack, as we learn during this scene – running through the wreckage and delegating, helping like a natural leader/doctor. By the time the credits begin (quietly overlayed on the screen) we already feel jarred. This does not feel like the typical TV shows we’re so used to watching. It feels intense, even as everything has quieted down and we watch Jack wander (slightly aimlessly) through the wreckage. We, as the audience, feel the need to use this time (like Jack) to comphrehend what we have just seen. One of my favourite moments in the pilot comes from the following scene. Jack finds a sewing kit in some luggage and goes to a secluded spot away from the wreckage to treat a large gash that went unnoticed by most of the audience while he was committing his acts of heroism. He sees a woman – Kate – walking out of the jungle and asks her to stitch up his wound. She agrees, though is obviously uncomfortable with the idea. Kate is terrified, but Jack calms her with his story of fear. He tells of his first solo operation where, after 13 hours of surgery, he ripped his young patient’s dural sac. He tells her he let the fear in to do it’s thing – but only for five sevconds which he counted away. Kate says she would have run for the door, but Jack tells her he doesn’t think so, after all she’s “not running now”. I love this scene for reasons I find difficult to explain. One is probably due to the fact that Kate is “Born to Run” as we learn later int he series, and Jack’s need to fix everything always trumps fear, so it often becomes unimportant when he is afraid. Another may simply be because the interaction seems so natural and human that I forget I’m watching actors in Hawaii rather than Jack Shephard and Kate Austen on a mysterious island. Whatever it is, it pulled me in. A flashback, the first of many in the series, occurs. We find Jack in seat 23A on Oceanic 815. A friendly flight attendant named Cindy asks him about his drink, and their interaction ends with him getting two more samplers of vodka. He consumes one bottle and rises to move to the aisle, where Charlie Pace passes him pursued by Cindy and another flight attendant. Jack then shares a moment with Rose Nadler, an older woman seperated from her husband in the crash. This is another moment I love, as Jack tries to calm Rose immediately before the turbulence begins. I’ve never trusted Jack, and the fact he’s assuring her ‘everything will be alright’ and the crash follows, just helped me get away with this idea. Night comes and no one has come to the rescue yet. Hurley, a friendly and rotund male, hands out dinner to various castaways. Jack tends to an unconcious man that has raises an odd reaction in Kate, and Kate admits she was awake for the crash. She thinks she knows where the missing cockpit might be, and they make a plan to try and find the transceiver within. The peace is interrupted by a series of roars – slightly mechanical, with a tikatikatika to it – and trees falling to the ground. The audience and the castaways try to rationalize what has happened, but we’re not sure what to say. All we know is that Walt is wrong, and that is not his dog. Day two and Kate and Jack (along with dazed Brit Charlie Pace) head off to find the cockpit. A tropical rainstorm begins (something that Charlie refers to as “End-of-the-world-type weather”) and as everyone left behind at the wreckage moves for shelter, an airy John Locke welcomes the rain with open arms. Meanwhile, Jack’s team find the nose section of the plane, which they climb into. Inside, the find the pilot of Oceanic 815, one Captain Norris. He seems dead, but suddenly awakens and coughs. He drops a bombshell on them – They were about 1000 miles off course. Any rescue was looking for them in the wrong place. As Jack and Norris try to work the transceiver, Kate looks for Charlie and discovers him guiltily exiting the bathroom. The loud mechanical noises are heard in the plane, and the Pilot decides to prove he’s a redshirt by cautiously peering out to investigate. Norris is then seized by something unseen and pulled away. Blood splashes the window. Jack grabs the transceiver. Jack , Kate and Charlie do exactly what we do – run the heck away. Charlie trips, Jack runs back (Mr. Fix-It, always there to help!) and Kate goes on to hide herself in a tree. She calms herself by counting to five, as Jack had done in his first surgery. Charlie finds her, and they search for Jack. As the rain stops, they find the pilot’s badge beneath a tree, only to find his body mangled in the treetops. Jack appears and we’re all left wondering “OK, what?” This is a Pilot I think I might call perfect. At first you sit astounded and confused. Then they get you to attach to the main character (whether you like him, or like me dislike him, you’re still attached). Then they confuse you again, but not in a way that makes you angry. Simply in a way that makes you want to watch another episode. That’s what a pilot needs to do. Make you want to watch more, and make you know who the main character is. We may not know Jack’s details – heck, we don’t even know about his daddy issues yet – but we do know that he’s the natural leader, a doctor, and someone who has his “I’m-stuck-on-an-island” priorities in order. Pilot, Lost 1x01 ***** We met... Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) – Automatic leader. Doctor. **Flashback character Vincent – Lost dog. Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) – Suspcious rocker. Jin-Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) – Controlling (Korean) husband. Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) – Father who shouts WAAAAALT! Too much. Shannon Rutherford (Maggie Grace) – Refuses to eat. John Locke (Terry O’Quinn) – Likes: Oranges, rain, long walks on the beach. Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) – Eight months pregnant, Australian. Boone Carlisle (Ian Somerhalder) – Inept lifeguard. Rose Nadler (L. Scott Caldwell) – Estranged wife. Hugo “Hurley” Reyes – Friendly and rotund, dude. Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) – Rough and tumble gal, still queasy around open wounds. Sawyer (Josh Holloway) – Smokes in the middle of plane wreckage, must be the badass. Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) – Iraqui delegator. Sun Hwa-Kwon (Yunjin Kim) – Submissive (Korean) wife. Walt Lloyd – Surprisingly sedated son. Edward Mars (Fredric Lehne) – Down for the count. Seth Norris (Greg Grunberg) – Pilot of Oceanic 815. Body Count is... 2 or more. Gary Troup (Sucked into engine) Seth Norris (Killed by Island creature) Any number of redshirts also on the plane (Killed by crash or other wreck-induced injuries) We found... Strange mechanical sounds coming from the jungle, followed by trees falling down. The cockpit of the plane. They were 1000 miles offcourse when they crashed. Wait, what was that? White tennis shoe hanging from a tree. Claire’s baby survives an explosion. Mechanical sounds from the JUNGLE. Pilot gets taken and killed by an unseen force and subsequently mutilated (but not eaten) I laughed out loud at... “I heard you, I heard you shout ‘Jack’... I’m Charlie by the way.” – Charlie Pace Hey did you know that... J. J. Abrams won an Emmy for directing this episode while Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber recieved a nomination for the writing? Jack’s bottle of vodka contains the text “дождь” which translated from Russian as “Rain”, a running motif in Lost? The title has a double meaning – Pilot is the first episode of a scripted series, and it is also the first victim on the mysterious Island force? Only six of the main characters have been named by the end of the episode? Jack, Kate, Sayid, Shannon, Boone and Charlie. This along with Pilot Pt. 2 is the most expensive pilot in TV history? September 22nd, 2004 is the date the episode originally aired and is also the date in the storyline on which Oceanic 815 crashed? Literary Devices: Foreshadowing: Kate is first seen by Jack rubbing her wrists. Foreshadowing: Charlie runs by Jack in the airplane, later spends extra time in the cockpit bathroom. Irony/Redshirts: The Pilot is the first redshirt of the series. Plot Twist: Introduction of the “Monster” Motifs: The series opens with a close-up of Jack’s eye, Lost often opens things with a shot of someone’s eye. Claire is 8 months pregnant. Charlie put white tape on 4 fingers... He writes F-A-T-E on them... ...with a black marker. The girl in Jack`s story was 16 years old. Jack and Rose are sitting in row 23 on the plane. Jack hits the cockput door 8 times before it opens. When Seth Norris wakes up, Jack says it’s been 16 hours since the crash. Locke sits out in the tropical rain while everyone else goes for shelter. Top three moments: 3. Jack and Kate's first scene together as she stitches him up and he talks about fear. 2. The series opening with Jack's confusion, and the wreckage of 815. 1. -------------- So let me know what you think! If you enjoyed it and want me to keep going, please tell me and I will.
Woohoo, this is great! I wish I had the DVDs though, but I'm broke right now. <_< I guess the only way to reminisce about old episodes is to reread the Lostpedia articles!
Oh Lostpedia <3 It saved my life during season six when I needed my Lost fix. xD I would reccomend you dl the episodes off of thepiratebay for now, it's what I did until they released the series.
I think the review is really awesome, in-depth, and the little bits afterward such as the body count and the motifs are interesting and useful. I definitely would have also picked Locke's orange-peel smile to be my favourite moment in the episode too. I can't wait for you to continue this so I can learn new things that I didn't notice the first time around.
Yay! Hopefully I will notice more things. I'm catching more of the numbers now that it's my third go round. I'm attuned to it from noticing them IRL like the total dorkwad I am. xD
I'm sure you will notice plenty of things, especially with it being your third time watching the series. If you don't notice things by the end of this time, I don't think they were meant to be noticed =P And as far as you being a dorkwad goes, not only do I also notice the numbers in real life (though not as often as some), but I'm sure most everyone who has watched the series does as well. It makes me wonder how many people now use them on lottery tickets...
Haha, hopefully. I think my favourite instance of the numbers IRL was my fortune cookie. I had them all! ------------- 1x02 – Pilot Part 2 It is still day two on the island as Jack, Kate and Charlie trek back from their journey in the Pilot. As Jack fiddles with the transceiver, Charlie and Kate talk. Charlie claims he was puking in the bathroom back at the cockpit, and calls himself a coward – which Kate refutes. Charlie’s expression as she walks ahead says otherwise. And (not much of a surprise) we get a flashback in which we learn Charlie is a junkie. Back on the beach, Shannon refuses to be of any help once again, and instead lays sunbathing. I think it’s almost completely safe to say that all viewers (just in case, let’s call it 99%) hate Shannon at this point. We also discover that Shannon and Boone are siblings and Claire hasn’t felt the baby move since the day of the crash. At the seashore we get to see more with Jin and Sun who we only saw briefly in the Pilot. I find this scene so powerful, especially for it’s complete lack of English dialogue (with NO subtitles!) There is no need for subtitles when we understand the relationship with just one long look from Sun to Jin, and the insisting of Jin that Sun button her cardigan when Michael shows up looking for Walt (WAAAAALT!) Meanwhile, Walt is being stupid. He goes into the jungle to look for his dog, and instead finds handcuffs. Michael suddenly appears, rightly angry at the boy for traipsing off into the jungle. When they bring th ehandcuffs back to camp, a fight ensures between Sayid and Sawyer, stemming from Sawyer essentially labelling the Iraqi as a terrorist. Kate stops the fight and changes the subject to the broken transceiver. Sawyer can’t believe they’d trust Sayid when he volunteers, but everyone else just tells him to (essentially) shut the hell up. It’s surprising to me that after this scene, so many people liked Sawyer. My friend watched it the first time and liked him right after him being a racist d-bag. Go media. Next we get a part with Kate bathing in the sea, which I think draws out a bit too long before Sun comes in. When she does enter, though, it strengthens the scene as we see a jealousy in her eyes that makes me love Yunjin Kim as an actress. Kate finds Sayid after some lost-in-translation directions from Sun, and they discover they have no reception unless they go up much higher. Kate tells this to Jack, insisting that her and Sayid go to test the radio while he works on an unconcious Edward Mars. Another shot of the shore, another scene with Jin and Sun that is easily one of my favourites. The way he slaps her hand away, and the way she looks after him as he leaves... Unbuttoning her cardigan as a silent act of rebellion. There are few scenes with Sun that I like more than this. It is that one moment of glaring rebellion that moves against the submissive Asian wife stereo-type and leads us into territory for Sun’s first flashback episode coming up soon. Following it, we get another great scene, this time between Michael and Walt that, through lack of dialogue and Walt’s distance, allows it to be incredibly awkward and show (without telling) that Michael knows nothing about his son. The oh-so lovely Shannon comes in again, this time starting off being slightly bearable. She sits in front of a dead body, curled up and crying – regretting being so rude to the dead man. He didn’t let them in their first class seats, and inadvertently saves her life. Boone, vaguely insensitively (but more out of annoyance, since Shannon is a lump) tells her she should make up for it by doing something useful. They get into an argument, and she defiantly tell him that she’s going with Kate and Sayid. Charlie signs on when Shannon insists and so does Boone (although he’s definitely not happy about it) A little further away we get some foreshadowing that still doesn’t cut down on how much a normal person should dislike Sawyer – he sits and reads a letter, looks melancholy and then decides to join the team to scale the mountain. One thing that should be mentioned here is the score. Michael Giacchino’s score is always amazing in Lost, but this is my favourite. It is entitled “Hollywood and Vines” and has a cadence that is just so much fun. It is often used when traveling, and is heard at least once in every season, including every finale. In fact, it was one of the things on my Lost Finale Bingo Card. On the beach, Walt approaches the quiet and mystical Locke who is playing Backgammon. He explains how there are two sides – one is light and one is dark – and asks (rather ominously) if Walt wants to know a secret. Because he’s not being creepy at all. We, of course, don’t get to know the secret. Instead we get to see Jin give food to Claire, food that was apparently so bad it made the baby kick in frustration. What follows is a cute little sequence of Claire trying to get Jin’s hand on her stomach, which he is completely uncomfortable with... And then amazed by. Aww. We forget for a moment that he’s a controlling jerk. As Sawyer instigates another argument, this time about when to check the radio, the climbing team is interrupted by a distant roar. It gets closer and everyone (except for the oh-so-cool Sawyer) runs away. In the last few moments, Sawyer pulls out a gun and shoots way more bullets than many castaways would find necessary. Anywho, he kills the creature... And what is it? A polar bear. Instead of concentrating on the pressing question of “Why is there a polar bear on a deserted island?” they question Sawyer about where he got his gun. He stole it from a US Marshal of course, where all respectable men get their guns. This leads to Sayid accusing Sawyer of being the prisoner, which leads to an argument, which distracts Sawyer for long enough that Kate steals the gun. She asks how to use it (and by use, she means dismantle), and when that’s all over we get a flashback that shows us that Kate is a darn good actress: We’re on the plane. She’s sitting next to Mr. Schrapnel (AKA Edward Mars) like she said a refuses a drink from the flight attendant. Next thing you know, Mars is talking to her like he knows her – something she didn’t cop to. And then she takes a drink of juice... Which is difficult because of the handcuffs. Oh snap. The crash occurs again, this time from her perspective. Following this, Jack is stitching up Edward Mars after removing the schrapnel. All of a sudden he wakes up, grabs Jack’s shirt and asks where she is. On the more intriguing side of things, Sayid decides it’s time to use the radio. They get a bar, but can’t put out a signal. Why? Because there’s already a transmission. Which means someone else is/was on the island. We hear a French transmission, and Shannon attempts to translate (yes, you read correctly – she has a use). She hears a distress message from a woman saying “it killed them, it killed them all”, which is really comfortable for new people on the island. Sayid calculates, based on the iterations of this repeating message, that it has been on loop for approximately 16 years. Which means the call for help was (most likely) never answered. The question that is on every viewer’s mind is voiced by a character, something I appreciate Lost doing with frequency: “Guys... where are we?” Pilot Part 2, Lost 1x02 **** 1/2 We learned more about... Charlie Pace – A druggie who just retrieved his stash from the cockpit and for the next few days may (or may not) be able to make it last. *Flashback character Kate Austen – The fugitive that Marshal Edward Mars was bringing to LA from Australia. Seems accomplished at making sure people don’t know she’s a felon. *Flashback character Shannon Rutherford – Speaks French, though only vaguely. Boone is her brother. Boone Carlisle – Shannon is his sister. Claire Littleton – Didn’t feel the baby move since the crash, but after eating some sea food Jin offered her, felt the baby kick. Sun Hwa-Kwon – Submissive to her husband, but hates it. Does rebellious things like unbuttoning her blouse when Jin isn’t looking. Jealous of Kate’s thong. Michael Dawson – Knows nothing about his son. Walt Lloyd– Will stupidly wander into jungle to look for a dog. Mother died, which is why he’s with Michael. Sayid Jarrah – Was a member of the republican guard in the Gulf War. Good at mental math. Sawyer – Get’s depressed when he reads a letter, enough so that he makes an attempt to be helpful. Oh, and he shoots polar bears. Locke – Very creepy and a big fan of Backgammon. Body Count is... 3+[/b] One Polar Bear (shot by Sawyer) Gary Troup (Sucked into engine) Seth Norris (Killed by Island creature) Any number of redshirts also on the plane (Killed by crash or other wreck-induced injuries) We found... A strange French radio transmission that has been repeated for approximately sixteen years. Wait, what was that? A polar bear. That’s what that was. Sawyer believes it came from Bearville. I laughed out loud at... (referring to why he took the gun) “I thought it might come in handy. Hey, guess what – I just shot a bear!” -Sawyer “The French! The French are coming! I’ve never been so happy to hear the French!” -Charlie Pace Hey did you know that... Sawyer can be heard using a non-Southern accent in some scenes? Josh Holloway masked the accent, but J. J. Abrams later explained to him that he was hired FOR the accent. When Sayid and Sawyer are fighting, Sayid insults Sawyer in another language? He calls him “son of a dog”. The French transmission was dubbed in German for the French version of LOST? Filming this episode was wrapped April 24, 2004? That’s not so special... But it was also Damon Lindelof’s birthday and six years to the day, the series finished shooting. Sawyer called them... Hurley – Lardo Jack – Doc Shannon – Sweet cheeks Sayid - Chief Literary Devices: Foreshadowing: Walt is reading a comic book with a picture of a polar bear. Foreshadowing: Shannon drops her inhaler on the plane. Foreshadowing: It was not translated in the show, but if you know some French you might pick up on a mention in the transmission of “the black rock”. Foreshadowing: Sawyer is shown reading a letter. Plot Twist/Foreshadowing: A freaking polar bear. Foreshadowing/Symbolism: Locke tells Walt that there are two players, two sides. One is light and the other is dark. Motifs: Charlie’s shoe is a black and white checkerboard pattern. In Backgammon: One is dark and one is light. Walt and Michael struggle with their relationship as father and son. The radio transmission has been looping for approximately 16 years. Cultural References: Green Lantern/Flash are in Walt’s Spanish comic book. Locke explains the rules to Backgammon. Top 3 Moments: 3. The music plays as they climb the mountain. Best piece of music in the show, imo. 2. Jin feeling Claire’s baby belly was adorable. The refusal, the acceptance, the amazement. 1. Sun unbuttoning her cardigan in an act of rebellion. (Couldn't find an image from the episode... That'll have to do)
Another wonderful recap. How long does it take you to type these up? Maybe you'll notice something that no one has noticed before! I kind of want to rewatch the series now, but school has started already....
It seems to be taking between a half hour and an hour, depending on how inspired I am. I've been watching the episode twice, too. I watch it once without typing anything and then the second time I type down reactions and things I just noticed, or that I'm interested in exploring. Well if you're in school you can still rewatch! One episode a week is sustaining enough x) Posting next review at 11PM NST.
1x03 – Tabula Rasa Tabula Rasa is the idea that people are born without built-in mental content, that their knowledge comes from experience and perception – essentially is is translated to “Blank Slate”. This episode takes it quite seriously and shows us several characters and stories and ideas that enforce the blank slate idea on the island. Part of Tabula Rasa is that you are born with the blank slate, by that logic, there should be no blank slate for anyone but Claire’s fetus. However, as Jack says “[the castaways] all died” in a metaphorical sense when they landed on the island. They were reborn, and thus “should all be able to start over.” This is the first episode that is not just the occasional flashback to fill in a blank. No, this is a full-on Lost episode with several flashbacks to make points, back them up and fill in the holes that we’re the most curious about in a character. The first character who gets this treatment is Kate, who I believe often has some of the worst centric episodes. This is not one of them. Instead, this episode is poignant and beautiful, and sets the series up as a perfect ‘redemption’ kind of story. In Kate’s flashback, we see her awakening on an Australian farm by the owner of said property. She tells him that her name is Annie, a Canadian college graduate visiting Australia to “see the world”. Ray Mullen, the farmer, offers to let her stay if she does work – that he will also pay for. She accepts. After she spends a notable amount of time at the farm, we see Kate going into the pantry to retrieve her earnings from a tin can. She tells him she leaving, he asks her to stay one more night, she agrees. The next morning, they ride in Ray’s truck. He seems to be looking for something, and Kate discovers it’s Edward Mars, the Marshal. There’s a 23 000 dollar reward on her, and he has “one helluva mortgage.” Kate grabs the wheel, swerves them off the road. The truck falls and eventually stops, catching on fire. Kate escapes – bringing an unconcious Ray with her – to the side of the road so someone will see them. Her escape is short lived as a gun is put to her head and she is thwarted. This story shows Kate in a mixed light. She a liar, yes. She is a criminal on the run, yes. She also put her freedom on the line to save the life of someone who ratted her out. Does Kate deserve Tabula Rasa? She seems to have a kind nature about her, and at the same time appears to have been nurtured to crime. On the island we get to see more of this rebirth. We open the episode with Jack tending to the hurt Marshal who is continuously uttering for Jack not to trust her. Eventually he tells Doc to look in his jacket pocket, where he finds Kate’s mugshot. Hurley enters, asking if he can help, and then finds Kate’s mugshot and is immediately afraid of her. They do not know what she’s done, and Jack claims it’s none of their business while Hurley disagrees. Meanwhile, the signal party are making their way back down the mountain, stopping to discuss what they should tell the other castaways. Sayid believes they should lie. He says that “If we tell them what we know, we take away the hope, and hope is a very dangerous thing to lose.” To twist that to fit with the idea of Tabula Rasa, you can say that they are trying to keep the slates of other castaways unsmeared by a loss of hope. To lose hope is to follow down Sawyer’s path and enter the wilderness and completely give up civilization. Later, as they sleep, Boone sneaks the gun from Sawyer and tries to get the magazine from Sayid before getting caught. After an argument ensues, they ironically decide to give it to Kate – the safest choice. To them, she has done nothing wrong. She has a blank slate. The next day, when the signal party returns, Kate pulls Jack aside. He is of the belief she is going to tell him the truth about the Marshal, instead she tells him the truth about the transceiver while Sayid lies to everyone else. He asks her if there is anything else she wants to tell him – she asks if the Marshal regained conciousness and if he said anything. Jack is disappointed. As the Marshal’s condition worsens, Jack goes into the fuselage to get antibiotics. Sawyer is also getting supplies – magazines, cigarettes and liquor. Sawyer claims their in the wild and they should live like it, Jack wishes to maintain his civility. While Jack is gone, Hurley comes out of the medical tent to get water. In the process, he runs into Kate and they are introduced – as they haven’t formally met yet. She asks for Jack, and Hurley points her to the fuselage. When she turns to look, he sees the gun and becomes even more uncomfortable – to him, the blank slate has been smeared with guns and mugshots. He runs off, visibly uncomfortable, and Kate goes in to see the Marshal. She leans over him, quietly, observing. Suddenly he grabs her by the throat and tries to strangle her. Jack comes in before it’s too late, gives the man water and calms him while Kate denies any provocation. They both leave, Jack to get water and Kate to follow him. She suggests they euthanize him, knowing that he would otherwise die an extremely painful and drawn out death. Jack refuses, saying he saw her mugshot and that he “is not a murderer.” Jack’s conclusion is well-founded, though Kate has done nothing wrong on the Island. Along with Kate, another character is attempting to start with a blank slate. Michael, with his son Walt. As another rainstorm pelts the castaways, Michael talks to Walt about Locke (who seems oddly interested in his son), Walt insists that ‘Mr. Locke’ is just a friend. Michael tells Walt that he’s his friend too. Walt disagrees – a true friend would go and find Vincent. Michael, mistakenly, tells Walt he’ll look for Vincent as soon as the rain stops. After he says it? The rain stops. Michael heads to the forest, angry about what he’d promised. He hears a rustling, and after decided it’s too loud and fearsome to be the dog, he runs away – running into Sun, who’s bathing. Michael walks away after a painfully awkward moment. In the tent, the Marshal is screaming and all across the camp people are wishing he would be euthanized. Kate attempts to make a fire down by the beach, but is out of matches. Sawyer provides a light and mentions how he would hate to be the one with the gun, as everyone is expecting the person with the gun to do what has to be done to Marshal Mars. Kate looks for a moment as though she is considering it – she could live up to what Jack, Hurley and the Marshal think of her. Get rid of her blank slate and start straight from the old one. Then we see her turn away from the idea. She wants a new beginning. She wants that second chance The Marshal asks jack to let him talk to Kate alone. Jack asks the Marshal what she did – something he seemed very against earlier – but the Marshal refuses to tell him. Kate enters the tent and the Marshal simply asks about the favour she was asking him for, just prior to the crash. She tells him that she was going to ask him to make sure Ray got his 23, 000 dollar reward. Mars asks if he’s going to die. Kate nods. He asks if she’s going to be the one to do it. The creators did something very good when they cut away before she answered. They let the audience judge Kate. People who were convinced by her mugshot and criminal past would bet she would shoot him. People who believed she deserved a second chance would see the other option. Tabula Rasa. Hurley and Jack talk, and Hurley is confused why Jack left Kate alone with the Marshal with a gun on her. Jack sprints to the tent and witnesses Kate leaving. He asks what she’s done, when suddenly there is a loud gunshot. Sawyer has shot the Marshal, and Jack becomes angry. He confronts him. Sawyer claims the Marshal asked to be killed, and then they hear muffled coughs. Sawyer missed the heart, and Mars is still alive. Sawyer is horrified. Jack yells at Sawyer to leave, and he does so. Shaken, he attempts to light a cigarette as the screams grow louder. It stops, and Jack leaves in a cold sweat. The idea that Jack kills the Marshal in the end, and Kate did nothing, particularly interests me. Yes, Jack did it out of mercy – but he was against even mercy killings. When things get to certain extremes, everyone becomes a hypocrite. And now Jack’s slate is muddied – though only to himself. Sawyer will always be seen in a negative view by the doctor. When Jack is sitting silently, looking out at the ocean and (I believe) thinking about what had been done, Kate sits next to him. She wants to tell him how she became a fugitive, but he doesn’t want to know. His mind has already been changed and he believes that they should be allowed to start over. One more person in this story has yet to have their Tabula Rasa conclusion. Michael. Earlier in the episode, Locke was whittling a whistle. It is finished, and early on day four, he sits on the beach and blows the new whistle – a dog whistle. Vincent comes running out of the jungle. Locke sneaks to Michael and wakes him, telling him he found the dog and tied him a nearby tree. He believes it would be best if Michael gave it to him. At the end of the episode, we get something new that will become a staple in Lost – a montage. It is a beautiful moment that begins with Hurley emptying his shoes of sand (clearing his slate in a different symbolic way) while listening to Joe Purdy’s “Wash Away (Reprise)”. We see Jin walking up to a sleeping Sun, gently touching her cheek in a beautiful way we haven’t seen him display before. Boone made Shannon a pair of sunglasses out of broken parts and hands it to her as a peace offering. Sayid walks across the beach and then throws an apple (a proverbial olive branch) to Sawyer.Finally, a touching moment where boy is reunited with dog, and father gets a second chance with his son as they hug and share a secret handshake. Tabula Rasa. Blank slate... Which will lead into the next episode nicely. Tabula Rasa, Lost 1x03 ****1/2 We met... Ray Mullen – A farmer who turned Kate into the authorities for $23, 000. We learned more about... Kate – Risked freedom to save a nice man. Used the alias “Annie” and said she was from Canada. Wants to start over on the Island. Has a confusing relationship with the Marshal in which there seems to at least be some level of mutual respect. Marshal Mars – Wanted to be euthanized, rather than suffer. **Flashback character Jack – Stresses staying in civilization while in the wild. Tries to hold back judgement on Kate, but fails and ends up treating her like a murderer. Sayid – Very good at delegation, sets up factions of people to do specific jobs on the beach. Treasures the castaway’s hope over telling them the truth. Sawyer – Believes in the wild they should act like their in the wild – every man for himself. Valuable antibiotics should not be used on a man who’ll die anyways. Charlie – Tells anyone who will listen that he’s in a band. Michael - Desperate for child’s affection, but lacks tact. Walt – Desperately wants his dog, and not so big on his dad – unless his dad can bring him his dog, of course. Locke – Skilled at woodwork. Trying to help others get a blank slate. Body Count is... 4+ Edward Mars (Damaged by schrapnel, infected, shot in the lung by Sawyer and then finished by Jack) Polar Beat (Shot by Sawyer) Gary Troup (Sucked into engine) Seth Norris (Killed by Island creature) Any number of redshirts also on the plane (Killed by crash or other wreck-induced injuries) I laughed out loud at... Hurley: Was it a dinosaur? Jack: It wasn't a dinosaur. Hurley: You say you didn't see it. Jack: I didn't. Hurley: So how do you know it wasn't a dinosaur? Jack: Because dinosaurs are extinct. Hurley: Oh, yeah. --- Shannon: [when the U.S. Marshal was crying out in pain] I wish he would just *die* already. Boone: Real humane, Shan. --- Michael: I’ll go look for your dog as soon as the rain stops. [The rain stops.] Made me teary... Sayid extending an olive branch to Sawyer. Michael bringing Walt his dog back. Sawyer called them... Kate – Freckles Sayid – Cheif, Abdul, Al Jazeera Jack – Doc, The Hero Hurley – Lardo Shannon – Sweet Cheeks Hey did you know that... This is the first time the show has a scene off the island or plane? This episode got the lowest ratings share of season one? (~16.5 million viewers) Kate’s alias name Annie is from Canada, which is the home country of the actress who plays her? (Evangeline Lilly) Literary Devices: Irony – Kate is chosen as the most trustworthy to hold the gun, while the audience knows she’s a fugitive. Foreshadowing – When Sawyer and Kate discuss the gun, he says “Hell, there’s only one bullet left. Be damn near poetic.” Juxtaposition – Ray and Jack offer Kate a chance for Tabula Rasa. She runs away from Ray, but becomes a blank slate with Jack’s offer. Irony – Charlie tells Claire that the former owner of the wheelchair found in the wreckage is “better off than they are”. Motifs: The reward for Kate was 23, 000 dollars. Ray’s wife died 8 eight months ago. Ray said the nearest town is 15km away. The backgammon table is shown with dice on it. One white die shows 16, two white with 6 and 4, and two black with 4 and 2. 6+4+4+2 = 16 Cultural References: Tabula Rasa – The individuals mind is born “blank”, the individual has the freedom to choose and author their own soul. John Locke was the originator of this idea and David Hume contemplated the topic in his works. Leavin’ on Your Mind – This song is sung by Patsy Cline, who died in a plane crash. It plays on the radio when Kate is in Ray’s truck. Top 3: 3. The scene between Jack and Sawyer in the fuselage. 2. Michael and Walt hugging and sharing a real father/son moment when Vincent is returned to him. 1. Sayid offering Sawyer the proverbial olive branch.
Hahahaha, I totally never even noticed the ironic wheelchair line before xD That's great. Not as great as Hurley and Jack discussing the 'dinosaur' though. I also love every time they end an episode with Hurley listening to music
I especially love when they get to the episode right before "Numbers" and at the end he listens to one and then it runs out of batteries xD Also, I'll post Walkabout soon, I'm just trying to write as many as I can right now x)