Lost season four highlights
We’ve already discussed some of this season’s letdowns, and now it’s time for the good stuff. Even the pickiest Lost fan must acknowledge that season four was phenomenal. A lot of things could have gone wrong this season. The writers had to incorporate an entirely new timeline into the show, deal with strike-related delays, and ease another group of characters into a huge ensemble cast.
Instead of falling short of expectations, this season surpassed them. I probably could have devoted separate posts to each of the following highlights. As usual, please share your own praise for this season of Lost in the comments section. I didn’t come close to covering everything that made this season incredible.
Following through with the game-changer - If you had told me a few seasons ago that most of the show’s original characters would leave their fellow survivors behind and reach civilization, I wouldn’t have believed it. Lost began as a drama about plane crash survivors on a mysterious island. Taking them off the island wouldn’t make any sense. How could the writers shift the timeline into the future halfway through the series? Somehow, Lost became even better once the flash-forwards were introduced. Most of the latest flashbacks told us things that we already knew–Hurley was unlucky, Locke had a horrible life before the crash, and everyone had father issues. The flash-forwards were a brilliant way of changing our perceptions of each character. Jack went from a leader to an unstable drug addict, Kate became a law-abiding mother, and Sayid became Ben’s hired assassin. I have no doubt that television writers will look to this season as a model for successfully transforming a show.
Michael Emerson - Is there anything that this man can’t do? This season, Michael Emerson managed to add several dimensions to his character–a convincing action hero, a grieving father, and even a lovesick stalker. His performance in “The Shape of Things to Come” alone should earn him a boatload of awards. Ben wasn’t the same person after Alex’s murder, and Emerson’s performance brought those differences to life. The cold, calculating Ben is gone forever. Until he gets his revenge, he’ll continue to be swayed by his emotions. I’m eager to see what Emerson does with his role in the next two seasons.
Male bonding - Even with all of the drama this season, the writers found time for some lighter, touching moments. Hurley and Sawyer became roommates at the Barracks and spent their afternoons playing Risk with Locke. This unlikely friendship nearly turned into a bro-mance by the end of the season. Hurley also became snack buddies with Ben. He really does bring out the good in people, doesn’t he? I was shocked when Ben gave Locke a (seemingly) sincere apology for his part in Locke’s unhappy life. Last season, a desperate Ben shot Locke and left him for dead rather than tell him the island’s secrets. In their final scene together, Ben almost appeared to respect Locke when he handed off leadership duties to John. Moments like these demonstrate that all types of relationships matter on Lost, not just the romantic ones.
Strong performances from the freighter folk - In my letdowns post, I complained that we didn’t get enough time with the freighter folk. I wouldn’t have wanted more from these characters if they hadn’t intrigued me. Ken Leung, Jeff Fahey, and Kevin Durand were particularly fun to watch. We all know that Widmore’s the big bad, but Keamy became the face of evil on the island in his stead. Frank Lapidus was the only member of the freighter team that I ever trusted, and his connection to Flight 815 was an unexpected twist. Miles’ ability to speak to the dead and see through the lies of the living will continue to be valuable. I also expect him to take over Sawyer’s role as the island wise-ass now that Sawyer is set to become the new leader of the 815ers.
Desmond and Penny’s relationship - There isn’t enough gushing in the world to do justice to this season’s development of Desmond and Penny’s love story. In my mind, “The Constant” is tied with “The Shape of Things to Come” for best episode of the season (and possibly of the series). Penny and Desmond’s reunion was the high point of the finale, and I was pleased that the writers brought them together so soon. Unfortunately, their happiness won’t last. Ben plans to take his revenge on Widmore by killing Penny, which puts both Penny and Desmond in danger. My heart will break if something terrible happens to them, but we’ll always have Season Four.
Sun rocks - The viewers who once complained that Sun and Jin were boring have (hopefully) been silenced. Jin’s fate was one of the biggest cliffhangers in the season finale, and Sun has become the Oceanic Six member to watch. Her grief turned her into a strong, mysterious woman back on the mainland. She’s sticking it to her father, holding a major grudge against Jack, and forming an alliance with Charles Widmore in the future. She’s come a long way from breaking a glass figurine and learning English in secret. Like Ben, loss has influenced Sun’s motives and moral code. She’s capable of anything now.
What did you love about this season?
Lost season four letdowns
This season of Lost was my second favorite season ever, so it was difficult to come up with criticisms. A shortened season meant that there wasn’t room for a weak episode. Nikki, Paulo, and Bai Ling stayed away. A few things are bothering me now that this chapter is finished, though. Some characters got a raw deal, and some twists failed to shock. It wasn’t all time travel and brilliant action scenes.
Jack’s appendicitis - Apart from bringing Jack and Kate closer together, I don’t understand why this storyline was necessary. The flash-forwards ensured that Jack would survive his low-tech surgery, so there wasn’t any tension there. It seemed like the only point of Jack’s illness was to completely kill the Juliet-Jack relationship. Jack and Juliet’s chemistry never worked for me. They shared two forgettable kisses, and then Jack basically blew her off after she saved his life. Still, Juliet deserved a better break-up, from both Jack and the writers.
Farewell, Rousseau - I had big hopes for Danielle Rousseau. She had been a mysterious figure on the island since the first season, and she’s one of the few island characters that hasn’t had (or appeared in) a flashback. I always assumed that the payoff of Rousseau’s character would come later–some bizarre island secret or revealing detail about the Others. Imagine my surprise when Danielle was killed, along with that annoying Karl, in a brief scene at the end of “Meet Kevin Johnson,” an episode that primarily focused on Michael’s storyline. They didn’t even give Rousseau the proper Lost send-off of a flashback followed by death. Less intriguing characters like Ana Lucia and Shannon had better exit episodes, for crying out loud!
Fewer episodes - This isn’t the fault of anyone connected to Lost, but the diminished season had a noticeable impact on the show. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse admitted that they wanted to do an additional freighter folk-centric episode, but had to put those storylines off until next season. I would have liked to learn more about the freighter folks, especially since some of them are stuck on the island with the 815ers. Daniel is the only familiar face on the Zodiac raft (now adrift without the island or the freighter as a destination), and I hardly know anything about him. A little extra time with the freighties would have given me more reasons to care about them. The season’s timeline also changed as a result of the missing episodes, and the finale was overflowing with plotlines. I love that Lindelof and Cuse fought to make the finale an hour longer, but I was mentally and emotionally drained after so many deaths, touching moments, and shocking scenes in one sitting.
What happened to the Others? - The Others took a back seat to the freighter drama in the first part of the season. Nestor Carbonell was away doing the now-canceled Cane, so we didn’t see Richard Alpert until “Cabin Fever.” I expected the Others to have a bigger presence after the first freighter group parachuted onto the island. These people were a major threat to their way of life, after all. They made up for their absence by doing away with the mercenaries, but why couldn’t they have wiped them out sooner? Juliet had a weaker role in the island goings-on as well. “The Other Woman” was supposed to be a Juliet-centric episode, but served to make Ben’s character more complex instead. You had to keep your eye on Juliet last season, because you never knew which side she was on. Now she’s in the same boat as the other 815ers who simply want to be rescued. Will she become even less significant over the next two seasons?
Aaron is one of the Oceanic Six - I lost interest in Aaron a while ago. Nothing against Turniphead, but he was probably the last of the survivors that I wanted to see back on the mainland. He hasn’t turned out to be special in the way that Season One led us to believe. I’m among the fans who took Malkin’s warning seriously. Why weren’t there consequences for Aaron being raised by another? Aaron’s presence in Kate’s flashback also caused some unnecessary confusion about the identities of the Oceanic Six. The tease in “Ji Yeon” was heartbreaking; for a moment I believed that Jin was safe. On the bright side, non-815ers like Desmond, Frank Lapidus, and Ben made it off the island. We might even get a glimpse of Locke (aka Jeremy Bentham) on the mainland in the future.
The “surprise” return of Michael - We all saw this twist coming, right? Ben dropped hints about his spy on the freighter several times, and most fans knew that Harold Perrineau was returning to Lost in some capacity. Lack of surprise aside, Michael’s season four appearances weren’t all that exciting. He told Sayid that he was there to die, and stayed true to his word in the finale. I understand Perrineau’s frustration about being killed off so quickly. Michael’s guilt over murdering Libby and Ana Lucia drove him to attempt suicide several times, and his moment of redemption was far too brief. When Christian Shephard dismissed him, Michael looked more confused than at peace. At least he didn’t yell “Waaaaaalt!” before he died.
Check back soon for my Lost highlights post. For now, feel free to share some of your thoughts on how this season could have been better.
Lost's "Darlton" Dishes on Everything from Romance to Flashes to Four-Toed Statues!
Oooh! What goodness.
Executive producer badasses Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse just did a teleconference with reporters to talk about the return of Lost one week from today (holla!), and ponied up a lot of interesting info about what lies ahead, and what it all means.
If you're a fan, you don't want to miss this, so get in here for the dish…
What We Learned from Darlton Today:
This year’s huge season-finale shocker is being referred to as the “Frozen Donkey Wheel.” It does not involve donkeys, wheels or anything of an en-suffix nature. (Now it's totally obvious, right?)
Darlton won’t say a word about whether anyone is dying this season. Carlton says: “If we basically were to tease that there was going to be a death, sort of like when Shannon died, it kind of lead everybody to chase it down and spoil it. On the other hand, if we were to say that everyone is safe, that would kind of really ruin the dramatic impact of the finale. So we’re excited about what’s happening. There are definitely some very large and seismic events that will happen to our castaways between now and the end of the season. By the end of the season, some people’s fates will be clear and others will not be so clear."
Something big is up for Claire. “I think there is a very compelling event involving Claire’s character that will take place between now and the season finale.” (Rumors include everything from a kiss to the kiss of death…)
The flash-forwards and flashbacks are a “mosaic,” and when the “mosaic” is complete, the story of Lost is complete. Damon explains: “There is the story on the island, which we perceive to be the present, and then there’s the story of the Oceanic 6, which is happening off the island in the future. But if we were to switch perspectives at any time and suddenly we were off the island, focusing on the Oceanic 6 trying to get back, that would be the present, and what was happening back on the island would be either a parallel present, possibly a future, possibly a past. Who knows? So when you hear that whoosh noise, the question becomes ‘Where does it take you?’ Hopefully, if we do our jobs right in the finale, in the eight months in between the finale and the season premiere next year, the audience will once again be asking, ‘What the hell are they going to do in the season premiere?’ And that means we’re keeping people on their toes. And that's our intent.”
Regarding Jaters and Skaters, Damon says: “All we can say is that Sawyer is not one of the Oceanic 6 and Jack and Kate are. And obviously, there will be a huge focus in these final three hours of the show that comprise the finale in terms of how that series of events transpires, and ultimately what happens to Sawyer, and it’s all on the axis of the love triangle. So we think that both fans of Sawyer and Kate, otherwise known as the Skaters from what I’m told, and Jack and Kate, the Jaters, will have a bounty of interesting romantic scenes.”
On Juliet and Jack: “Well, Jack and Juliet obviously kissed in the sixth episode this year, and we will be sort of revisiting the emotional idea of that and their relationship in our second episode back, which is the one that airs on May 1,” says Damon.
Darlton loves Penny and Desmond. “It was certainly our intention to make that an epic love story along the lines of one of the central love stories in the show,” says Damon. “Because the chemistry between Ian Cusick and Sonya Walger works so well, it was a well that we wanted to return to sort of time and time again. Obviously, it became pivotal in Charlie’s death, and we feel some of the best episodes the show has ever done aren’t [the best] because they’re weird time-travel stories, it’s because they were so focused on that love story between Penny and Desmond. So we will certainly be returning to it. Unfortunately, Sonya is a very in-demand actor and is in Tell Me You Love Me for HBO, so it’s been challenging for us to secure her services, but once she becomes available, hopefully we’ll be using her again." Looks like someone needs to remind Sonya of her "constant!"
Carlton on Charles Whidmore: “The character’s importance changes over time.” Damon: “You will see him sooner, rather than later.” Carlton: “And see more of him.”
The first hour of the finale (May 15) is titled “There’s No Place Like Home.” (Henry Gale would agree.)
Smokey and Jacob will be in the first episode back. OMG, yee! Says Damon: “You will get a healthy dose of Jacob before the end of the season.” OK, but is he Jack’s dad?!
The fate of Karl and Rousseau will be known the first episode back, and Darlton really want to tell Rousseau’s story of how she got to the island.
The four-toed statue “will be back on the show,” says Damon. “People will learn who built it and why it has four toes.” (Obvious guess: Lawnmower accident.)
The first half of the season was supposed to be the setup, and the second half, the payoff. The writers’ strike really screwed that up, but they promise they will pay off.
Darlton wishes they could have told more of the freighters’ story this season, but are very happy with the casting. Each character turned out exactly how they had envisioned.
They are having discussions of a similar online experience for this summer that would segue into season five like Find815.com did.
How many people know the very end of the series? Damon: “Not a lot. We can conservatively say you could sort of count them all on one hand. But if we were to disclose the names of any others, they might be kidnapped and taken off to Central America and tortured.” Carlton: “We told Dick Cheney because we were pretty sure that no one would be able to find him and get the secrets from him.”
Got any new theories sparked by what you read above? Holler in the comments below!
Battlestar Galactica: Sine Qua Non
(S04E08) After two weeks of waiting, and through several other shows having their season finales, we’re back for more frakking BSG, baby. And speaking of season finales, after watching Lost last night with all of its flashbacks and flash-forwards, it almost seemed as though we may be seeing a bit of flashbackery next week to explain what happened to Roslin and the others aboard the hijacked Base Star.
In case you’re wondering what the title means, it’s a latin legal term, of course.
I’ve never had a firm grasp on the whole Adama-Roslin relationship, though obviously it’s been a budding one for some time now. It wasn’t until this episode that we saw concrete affection for Roslin, Bill even saying he can’t function without her around. And, with that, he quite honorably and logically takes himself out of active command until he can get his head on straight: e.g., he finds Roslin or dies trying.
In some of the opening scenes we saw the shot Six wasn’t yet dead, with Cottle and his crew working frantically to save her. Seeing Six reach up as if “toward the light” and Cottle standing over her seemed either to scream out Cottle as a red herring (for being the final Cylon) or just made his stock price go up a few points. I’m going with the latter in this case.
How could they possibly trust Sharon again after going nuts and killing the Six? I’ve been bitching for weeks now that the comfort level they’ve given a known Cylon — Sharon — is a tough pill to swallow sometimes. I understand that she put her neck out for the colonials before, but this last incident should leave her in chains with the other Six.
As for the appointing of a new president, I legitimately felt bad for Zarek. Like was said to Bill Adama, they could do a lot worse than Zarek in the topmost place of power in the fleet. The guy seems to take his role of vice president seriously and took it on the chin to see Roslin in the high seat. Now when it’s his time, he has it plucked away to please “the old man.” He steps down so Adama’s own son can be sworn in instead! If that’s not enough points now to win over the trust of those who didn’t at one time or another, short of taking a bullet for someone else, I’m not sure what will.
Then, of course, we had the return of Lampkin the lawyer. Can I just say that Sheppard as Lampkin, in that long trenshcoat, reminds me of early Phil Collins? Remember that video for … nevermind. Anyway, the man clearly has more than a few marbles loose. It was a neat trick to show us a cat that wasn’t there, but at the same time it was pretty sick to learn he was toting around a tiny corpse in that bag for weeks.
When the damaged Raptor showed up, as soon as I heard someone was going for a space walk, I thought we were going to see another redshirt death. I was half right, though, as it was Eammon Pike who appeared as a bloated mess aboard the mess of a ship. Scratch one off the population for this week.
As for pregnant Six, this clearly points out the differences that the final five have to previously-known skinjobs. As far as I recall, the Cylons have said they can’t breed eith each other. Humans and Cylons — different story. But this whole Tigh-Six “relationship,” if you want to call it that, is just too weird and I’m really wondering where they’re going with it. Damn, though, that was a mean fist fight between Adama and Tigh. If we can’t get some decent space battle scenes, let’s get the dukes out!
As a side note, I think we now know why Tigh was wearing admiral tags in scenes several episodes ago, as mentioned in one of Ron Moore’s podcasts. They must have shot the sequences out of order is all I can summise.
Adama looked strange in a flight outfit, didn’t he? Just didn’t quite look right. And in case you missed it, we got aother glimpse of the Orion constellation again in that last scene.
Current fleet population:
(Note: I take the population mentioned at the start of the episode and then subtract/add to that number based on what was shown or heard in this episode to get the number below)
39,672 (since last week it was 39,673 and this week was 39,674, we have 1 birth, -1 for Gonzo, probably -1 for Sandman)