Lost (Season 2, episodes 1-5)



I’ve finally caught up the new season of Lost. Good stuff. I was worried that the show would be less interesting this season, considering some of the writing talent that left the show, but the first five episodes of the sophomore season have been solid.

The big news in these episodes is The Hatch. No, not the winner of the original season of Survivor, but the big metal portal our heroes managed to open in the last episode. What’s down there? A bunker, furnished with appliances and computers circa 1980, and stocked with food and a crazy guy. That crazy guy, Devon, is convinced that he has to enter a string of numbers (guess which ones) into a computer every 108 minutes or else something bad will happen. After the computer is accidentally broken Devon flees and a group of the castaways take it on themselves to fix the computer and take over the number-entering job.


"You have to win four games of 'Lemonade Stand' in a row, or I will shoot you."

On one hand these episodes are rife with what should be called Answers. We even get to see a badly damaged orientation movie that explains the purpose of the bunker. Maybe.

Is the Dahrma Project referenced in the movie behind everything? Is the whole island a psychological experiment they’re running?

I find that very unlikely. If anything I think the Dharma project is just bought whatever weirdness the island is selling.

Perhaps the best argument against the Dharma project being the Big Answer (again with the capitalization) is that it can’t possibly explain the many links the castaways had with each other and the island before they got to the island. In case you’ve forgotten about those, here’s a brief list:

- Sawyer met Jack’s father in a bar
- Jack met Devon briefly
- Hurley and Locke had the same boss, Randy
- Hurley won the lottery with the numbers
- Locke’s father may be the man Sawyer took his name from

I’m guessing on that last one, but Locke’s father said something about “everybody gets conned,” so it seems logical.


"You get to be 'Piggy' this round."

Anyway, the other interesting thing that's brought up in these episodes is the Tail Enders. We were always led to believe that some other people from the original flight survived, and here they are. The thing is that by the time Michael, Sawyer and Jin meet them, only a few of the 23 survivors are left. What happened? We're certainly supposed to think that they got taken by "The Others," but I suspect we'll later find out there was some sort of Lord of the Flies re-enactment. I always knew making that book required reading was a mistake.

Posted: Sun - October 23, 2005 at      

©