Lost from the beginning (NO SPOILERS)
- Thread starter OdoWanKenobi
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Oh, heck yeah. That is one awesome piece of music. I very much want to buy the season six soundtrack when it comes out. Giacchino has been at the top of his game this season.
Finally an episode I can get behind. This was the best episode of the season so far. It felt like something out of the creative high of S4 and S5. It had all the hallmarks of a great LOST installment. However as good as it was I wouldn't go so far as to call it excellent--it didn't quite hit all the right notes something was holding it back but it was still quite engrossing.
I really didn't expect anything less with a Richard origin story. It pretty much confirmed what we had gathered from all the clues centering on Richard but it was neat seeing how it all actually played out.
Finally we got back to mythology and the writers supplied us with answers to long standing questions like "How did the Black Rock end up so far inland?", "How did Richard become Jacob's advisor", and "What happened to the statue?". I thought they were for the most part satisfying although I was holding out for something a bit more clever for the statue question but I can live with this explanation even though it wasn't mindblowing.
Titus did a great job copying O'Quinn's mannerisms he exhibited when playing Smokey as Locke. It was so perfect it was eerie. I also loved that eerie pan out from Richard and Hurley quickly up to the sinister Smokey watching from a distance. Very well done. The episode put the S5 finale teaser in context. It was a nice sunny day as the Black Rock was heading to the island but by nighttime the weather conditions had dramatically changed probably due to Jacob. And that scene took place in 1876. And we learn from this episode Smokey existed as far back as 1876. Given that time frame and Richard's religious nature I can only imagine how terrifying the smoke monster was to him.
The Richard/Jacob exchange was very good. It answered a lot of questions and gave Jacob some much needed insight. I also really thought the writers couldn't have created a more satisfying and character-appropriate reason for why Richard wanted to become immortal. I also enjoyed the spooky scenes below deck after the ship crashed involving Smokey.
Quite good. Maybe this'll be a turning point for the season. It also helped there were none of those dull FSW to halt the episode in its tracks.
I really didn't expect anything less with a Richard origin story. It pretty much confirmed what we had gathered from all the clues centering on Richard but it was neat seeing how it all actually played out.
Finally we got back to mythology and the writers supplied us with answers to long standing questions like "How did the Black Rock end up so far inland?", "How did Richard become Jacob's advisor", and "What happened to the statue?". I thought they were for the most part satisfying although I was holding out for something a bit more clever for the statue question but I can live with this explanation even though it wasn't mindblowing.
Titus did a great job copying O'Quinn's mannerisms he exhibited when playing Smokey as Locke. It was so perfect it was eerie. I also loved that eerie pan out from Richard and Hurley quickly up to the sinister Smokey watching from a distance. Very well done. The episode put the S5 finale teaser in context. It was a nice sunny day as the Black Rock was heading to the island but by nighttime the weather conditions had dramatically changed probably due to Jacob. And that scene took place in 1876. And we learn from this episode Smokey existed as far back as 1876. Given that time frame and Richard's religious nature I can only imagine how terrifying the smoke monster was to him.
The Richard/Jacob exchange was very good. It answered a lot of questions and gave Jacob some much needed insight. I also really thought the writers couldn't have created a more satisfying and character-appropriate reason for why Richard wanted to become immortal. I also enjoyed the spooky scenes below deck after the ship crashed involving Smokey.
Quite good. Maybe this'll be a turning point for the season. It also helped there were none of those dull FSW to halt the episode in its tracks.
What? No. By all means keep posting. I'm not even sure what all this fuss was about, truth be told. If you posted spoilers, then I have no idea what they are. Keep on posting, please.
Well, so do I. 
Hmmmm, I might have time to squeeze another episode in tonight. See you cats in a hour, maybe.
Hmmmm, I might have time to squeeze another episode in tonight. See you cats in a hour, maybe.
The Package:
Seems we're back to the slow setup phase, with a little stupidity thrown in the mix. The stupidity I refer to being Sun's story. Smocke spooks her in the remains of her garden, and she runs away. She hits her head and suddenly loses the ability to speak English. Ahwha?
Did Yunjin Kim develop laryngitis or something, and wanted fewer lines for a while? I mean, this close to the end, what possible purpose could the de-evolution of a character serve? Oh wait, let me guess. When Sun and Jin are finally reunited, she'll regain the ability to speak English. I'm usually pretty forgiving of stuff, but this particular act just seems really dumb and pointless.
Then there's some setup for more plot points. Richard decides that the best course of action would be to blow up the plane to keep Smocke from using it to escape the island. This is, of course, not a popular option as the plane is also their only means of escape from the island.
Meanwhile, Smocke's camp is attacked by Whidmore's people and Jin is captured. This leads to some more pointlessness with no new information whatsoever. There is one nice moment, when Jin is handed Sun's camera and gets to see his daughter for the first time. Awwwwwwwwwwwww. Whidmore has brought a "package" with him to the island. Smocke sends Sayid to find out what it is. It's Desmond. Yay! Maybe things will start to look up a bit?
Oh, I didn't mention the flash sideways yet, because it's probably the weakest so far. Jin and Sun aren't married in this universe, but are still banging. They get in trouble with Keamy, who was actually being paid to bump them off. Jin gets captured, Sun gets shot, yadda, yadda. The flashes so far had at least given some character insight. This one really doesn't. It's a shame, since I like both Jin and Sun a great deal. Besides not being married, everything is pretty much the same for them. It was cool seeing Mikhail again, though. Since he had both eyes in this universe, I was fairly certain we were going to see him lose one in this universe. I was right.
Seems we're back to the slow setup phase, with a little stupidity thrown in the mix. The stupidity I refer to being Sun's story. Smocke spooks her in the remains of her garden, and she runs away. She hits her head and suddenly loses the ability to speak English. Ahwha?
Did Yunjin Kim develop laryngitis or something, and wanted fewer lines for a while? I mean, this close to the end, what possible purpose could the de-evolution of a character serve? Oh wait, let me guess. When Sun and Jin are finally reunited, she'll regain the ability to speak English. I'm usually pretty forgiving of stuff, but this particular act just seems really dumb and pointless.Then there's some setup for more plot points. Richard decides that the best course of action would be to blow up the plane to keep Smocke from using it to escape the island. This is, of course, not a popular option as the plane is also their only means of escape from the island.
Meanwhile, Smocke's camp is attacked by Whidmore's people and Jin is captured. This leads to some more pointlessness with no new information whatsoever. There is one nice moment, when Jin is handed Sun's camera and gets to see his daughter for the first time. Awwwwwwwwwwwww. Whidmore has brought a "package" with him to the island. Smocke sends Sayid to find out what it is. It's Desmond. Yay! Maybe things will start to look up a bit?
Oh, I didn't mention the flash sideways yet, because it's probably the weakest so far. Jin and Sun aren't married in this universe, but are still banging. They get in trouble with Keamy, who was actually being paid to bump them off. Jin gets captured, Sun gets shot, yadda, yadda. The flashes so far had at least given some character insight. This one really doesn't. It's a shame, since I like both Jin and Sun a great deal. Besides not being married, everything is pretty much the same for them. It was cool seeing Mikhail again, though. Since he had both eyes in this universe, I was fairly certain we were going to see him lose one in this universe. I was right.
Funny, I thought the same thing when I first saw the ep. I wondered if Welliver had studied some episodes with O'Quinn as Smokey. He was pretty dead on playing O'Quinn's version of Smokey.
^Yeah... that one was really stupid.
And almost equally stupid was
If they wanted her to be unable to speak, couldn't they have just made her temporarily go mute from shock?
BTW... I found it very disappointing, after the setup of vengeful Sun in season 4, that her role in seasons 5 and 6 was so weak. A similar thing that had happened to Juliet in season 4, after the great season 3.
There's a lot in this article (the link posted by Delta1 earlier) I don't agree with, but sadly the author is spot on when she says that "the show from a diverse cast to the repeated tableaux of white guys bickering about fate while the female characters were either shot or (worse) congealed into bland love interests."
And almost equally stupid was
Sun and Jin talking to each other in English for the rest of the season. Why would they do that? The worst of all was when Sun regained her use of English after hugging Jin, and one characters says something like "She's regained her voice". Right, because you can only have a voice if you speak in English. Speaking Korean just doesn't cut it, it's not like she could (and most likely would) utter her first worst to her husband in their native tongue. 
One of the things I really appreciated about Lost early on was that the show didn't resort to the lame habit of having characters who shouldn't speak English speaking English for no in-universe reason - instead, it had two of its main characters speaking Korean with subtitles in their flashbacks. Until season 6, when they started making up stupid reasons for them not to speak Korean.
One of the things I really appreciated about Lost early on was that the show didn't resort to the lame habit of having characters who shouldn't speak English speaking English for no in-universe reason - instead, it had two of its main characters speaking Korean with subtitles in their flashbacks. Until season 6, when they started making up stupid reasons for them not to speak Korean.
If they wanted her to be unable to speak, couldn't they have just made her temporarily go mute from shock?
BTW... I found it very disappointing, after the setup of vengeful Sun in season 4, that her role in seasons 5 and 6 was so weak. A similar thing that had happened to Juliet in season 4, after the great season 3.
There's a lot in this article (the link posted by Delta1 earlier) I don't agree with, but sadly the author is spot on when she says that "the show from a diverse cast to the repeated tableaux of white guys bickering about fate while the female characters were either shot or (worse) congealed into bland love interests."
Does anyone know why the priest denies him absolution? Richard seemed sincerely repent, and this should be enough for a Catholic priest to give absolution. There was some official explanation from the authors?
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