They promised us a revealing look inside the Other’s inner-sanctum! They promised us romance! They promised us unparalleled action and adventure! Did the LOST producers deliver on their promise? Or has LOST finally jumped the shark? We sent our intrepid LOST explorer, DocArzt, on an expedition to bring back the truth: did the LOST mini-season edify, or are fans as LOST as ever? Read on for comprehensive episode by episode analysis as only BuddyTV can deliver.
LOST fans around the world are hyperventilating with the realization that after six episodes the series has gone back into hibernation for thirteen-weeks. Look at the bright side – that is a cool six weeks shorter than the last Hiatus, and that was a piece of cake, right? (NOT!)
Like it, or not, the schedule change truly was a love letter to the fans. Unless you have been living under a rock, I assume you know this new schedule was made to eliminate the repeats YOU complained about. But why give us six episodes then throw us back into purgatory? The alternative was to wait until January to start Season Three – that would have left malnourished LOST fans without new material for eight months. The producers instead, along with programming execs at ABC, decided a “mini-season” was in order.
Creatively, it was an opportunity to try to create a smaller story arc that would, presumably, end with a finale-caliber episode. The feeling was, largely motivated by statements made by the producers, that this mini-season would explain the others. Well, it is over, and now fan reaction ranges from bliss to frustration. For some odd reason, LOST fans still believe that a LOST finale is going to reveal something, and not leave things hanging. With the notable exception of the season two finale, which showed us for the first time that the world is (presumably) alive and well outside the island, all LOST finales end the way the mini-season ended; with characters in peril. Yet, what about the promise of the Others? Were their secrets revealed? What was learned this “mini-season”, where do we expect it to go? Venture forth to find out:
Part One – A Tale of Two Cities
One: A Tale of Two Cities
Learned: The others live in a pastoral little neighborhood of yellow bungalows, complete with muffins, book clubs, cd players, and a gazebo. We get to see the plane crash from their perspective. The artist formerly known as Henry Gale is actually named Ben, and has now been dubbed ‘Benry’ by clever fans. Sawyer meets a young ‘other’ who is being held in an identical cage outside a mysterious building; he escapes and winds up being carted off by some other others. The cage features a series of levers that had to triggered in precise order to receive food. Kate was given a nice dress and brought to breakfast with Ben who informed her that the next couple of weeks were going to be pretty hard. Jack is stashed in a glass cage while a pretty blonde named Juliet tries to get him to eat. She reveals she has a file on him with information spanning every corner of his life.
Flashback: Jack. We learned he has a hard time letting go. Illuminating, in a ‘wow I thought I knew that already’ kind of way.
What do we know about the others: They live in a nice little village on the island.
Part Two
Two: The Glass Ballerina Learned: Sawyer and Kate were apparently kidnapped due to the others lack of manual labor. They are taken out to break rocks for the day. The others find out about the sailboat and go to retrieve it. Jin reveals he is starting to understand English fairly well. Sun shoots an other named Colleen who eerily knows Sun’s full name. Ben tells Jack that he will take him back to his life off the island if he cooperates. He also claims that he has lived on the island all his life. To prove they have contact with the outside world, Ben brings Jack up to date on current events and shows him a tape of the world series.
Flashback: Sun. She cheated on Jin with Jae Lee, the hotel guy, and her father told Jin to kill him. He didn’t, but Jae wound up committing suicide.
What do we know about the others: They are baseball fans.
Part Three
Three: Further instructions Learned: Locke, Eko, and Desmond, but not Desmond’s clothes, survived the hatch implosion. Locke has a vision – led by the spirit of Boone – that some polar bears are holding Mr. Eko and he sets off to rescue him. Desmond has developed precognitive abilities. John Locke is dedicated to rescuing Jack, Kate, and Sawyer next.
Flashback: Locke. Locke used to live on a dope growing commune and accidently brought an undercover cop into their midst. This proves Locke is no fun at parties.
What do we know about the others: What others?
Part Four
Four: Every man for himself Learned: Colleen dies from her gunshot wound, despite Jack’s efforts to save her.
Her husband Pickett is determined to kill Sawyer to get revenge. Jack sees X-rays of a persons spine with a nasty tumor. Ben reveals to Sawyer that they are being held on an island several miles from the island they had been living on. The others have a submarine (no word yet if it is yellow. others=blue meanies theories start now.)
Flashback: Sawyer. Sawyer discovered he had a child while he was in prison. He assisted feds in finding some money a fellow inmate had stashed and gave his percentage to the kid; proving Sawyer has a heart.
What do we know about the others: They bleed red.
Part Five
Five: The Cost of Living Learned: The others bury Colleen at sea. The x-ray belonged to Ben who wants Jack to perform surgery on him. Juliet secretly wants Jack to kill Ben during the surgery. The monster takes human form as Eko’s brother Yemi, and ultimately kills him when Eko refuses to confess his sins. Locke, Sayid, Nikki, Paulo, and Desmond connect to another Dharma station from the Pearl and catch a glimpse of a one eyed man in a Dharma suit. Before Eko dies he tells Locke “You’re next.”
Flashback: Mr. Eko. Basically picks up after his brother was killed on the runway. He returns to the village and everybody assumes he is the replacement priest. He finds out warlords are stealing vaccine and whacks them. Leaves the village in disgrace after the villagers board up his brothers church because of the murder.
What do we know about the others: They wear funny clothes to funerals.
Part Six
Six: I Do
Learned: Sawyer and Kate do the wild thing. Jack finds out about it and agrees to operate on Ben if he will get him off the island. Danielle’s daughter shows up to warn Kate that the others will kill sawyer. We find out some mysterious dude named Jacob made the list Ethan never got to make, and Jack was not on it. Jack slices one of Ben’s vital arteries during his surgery and refuses to fix it unless the others let Kate go. We also learn that the LOST writers and producers are cruel bastards when they end without telling us whether or not Kate escapes.
Flashback: Kate. Really scant scenes detail Kates distaste for tacos and the fact that marriage doesn’t suit her.
What do we know about the others: Absolutely squat.
Part Seven
So, my opinion, seriously, as far the mini-season concept is concerned it is a failure. They really dragged everything out to an extreme that was neither pleasurable nor revealing. In fact, you could watch episode one and episode six without everything in between and have very little trouble understanding what is going on in the others compound. The intent was clearly there, the execution was just a little off. At one point, about four episodes in, Jack says “Are you going to tell me what you want, or am I just going to sit around and watch cartoons?” A sentiment many LOST fans were echoing themselves. On the other hand, if we forget the mini-season concept, and the promise of explaining the others, you have a handful of enjoyable episodes that are on par with some of the best LOST episodes to date; I know I picked up a few new all-time-favorites!
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