Lost
Hearts
and Minds
original airdate: 01-12-05
There’s a lot happening in this episode. Maybe a
little too much. Some it makes you shrug and hope they get
back to juicy stuff. But most of it works very well and
adds up to a very captivating hour. After
a disappointing detour last
week, the main story picks up with Locke and Boone’s
efforts to unearth and/or excavate the mysterious metal
hatch. Or is that Locke’s efforts to unearth and/or
excavate Boone’s soul?
Locke
is downright fascinating here. Always caring about others
in his own way, he’s at one moment caring and philosophical
while at the next menacing and Machiavellian. Terry O’Quinn
has provided a lot of solid but rarely acknowledged support
work over the years. So it’s nice to see him have
the opportunity to wow audiences with one of most intriguing
roles on television.
Alas,
the pair never get into the hatch. Some viewers might wonder
why they haven’t dug out more during the last two
days. But it really doesn’t matter because Locke sets
Boone on a journey of self reflection that’s more
than adequate to keep audience’s attention. This journey
includes minimal yet effective flashbacks showing Boone’s
relationship with Shannon pre-island. Seems sis has a history
of manipulating Boone to extract money from her stepmother.
Kudos
to the writers for taking a dare regarding other aspects
of their relationship; too bad they didn’t go even
further and really cause a stir (what do you expect? Disney
still signs the paychecks, and Desperate Housewives
has probably used up the bulk of “Executive tolerance”)
Oh,
and nice moment with Sawyer in the background at the Sydney
police station. Five seconds that once again raise the neat
idea that the lives of all of the survivors intersected
somehow before the crash.
The
Locke-Boone storyline also includes a compelling foreground
jungle chase that leaves the viewer guessing until the end
in two different ways. First, is it real or a delusion?
And if it’s a delusion, did Locke’s “wound
goo” play a role or was it “the island?”
That
latter possibility once again raises the question of whether
or not Jack, Kate, and Charlie really saw the pilot being
snatched by some treetop hugging monster. Good stuff all
around.
Meanwhile
there are interspersed scene-lets of life back at camp.
The exchanges range from comical (Hurley is like the Kramer
of the island, but more practical minded) to thought provoking
(Is the island wonky or did Locke mess with the compass?)
to, well, boring (seeds anybody?).
As with
last week, fans should really questions Sun-pretending-not-to-speak
English subplot. If she’s planting gardens and orchards,
she must think she’s going to be there awhile. So
does hiding her language ability still make sense? And really,
would Jin react that negatively given their current circumstances?
Overall,
another solid episode in which the writers recaptured the
“hmm...factor” that will no doubt keep fans
coming back for a lot more.
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