Episode 21 - Greatest Hits
1 December 2009
Review
Present: Desmond tells Charlie that he sees him drowning in order for Claire to be rescued. It seems that his destiny when Jack and Sayid discover Ben is blocking all signals from the island using an underwater station. Charlie volunteers to deactivate it and begins writing a list of the best moments of his life for Claire. Karl arrives to alert the survivors that the Others are coming a day early. Sayid convinces Jack to head to the Radio Tower with the other survivors (to switch off Rousseau’s signal) while he stays behind with Bernard and Jin to shoot the dynamite.
Flashback: We see Ben arriving back at the Others camp to tell them Locke had an accident and that he is moving ahead with the abduction of the women. He gives instructions that any men resisting them should be killed. This prompts Alex to get Karl to warn the survivors. Charlie’s five best memories are hearing himself on the radio for the first time, his father teaching him to swim, Liam giving him the family ring, a woman (Nadia) calling him a hero and finally meeting Claire.
The Good: The producers of Lost have made a really good effort to utilise their flashback formula in different and interesting ways. We have seen continuous stories (207, 308), literal memories (215), very recent flashbacks (222, 319) and even reedited memories (314). But now they find a very simple and effective way to begin giving Charlie quite the send-off. The five best moments of his life is a really neat and interesting way to sum up his life and remind us of his story.
This episode seems to be about showing that Charlie has become all he wanted to be. The island has allowed him to become the person he always wanted to be. Through his flashbacks we saw that he wanted to be a rock star but also wanted to be a good person. He also wanted to take care of people around him and be taken care of. So here we see him and Claire as close as they have ever been. He tells Aaron he loves him, clearly here is the family he wanted to be good enough to have and look after. And he finally comes to terms with not being a “bloody rock god” anymore when he tells Naomi who he was in a modest way rather than the bragging he did in season one. And she tells him that in “death” he became a huge deal, with his Greatest Hits album making him the star he had wanted to be. That’s a really nice irony, that in death he will be a bigger star than he could have been alive. It all seems to suggest that Charlie’s story is complete. Instead of being the addict who ignored Kate and Jack while in search of his stash (101) he is now the hero who will save everyone else.
His “Greatest Hits” are a nice collection of memories. There is some admirable consistency when Liam gives him the ring in Helsinki (another nod to the pilot episode) and meeting Nadia is now par for the course (after Locke ran into her in 217). Charlie hugging Hurley goodbye is a lovely moment, played with subtlety by both. And the writers give Charlie an enjoyable sense of perspective with death in sight. When Desmond asks how long he really can hold his breath for Charlie simply says “Does it matter?” Which of course it doesn’t if you are prepared to die. Then once he hands over his list to Desmond he comments sadly that “Memories – are all I’ve got.” He breaks down in tears when Desmond offers to take his place which is again really well acted. And it’s well written, not only does it make Desmond look good but it offers Charlie a way out and he refuses to take it. He has prepared for this moment and is ready to die. So to finally run Charlie through the ringer of emotions he swims into the moon pool and discovers that the station isn’t flooded. Suddenly he has hope again “I’m alive!” he screams. Again it’s great to see because no matter how prepared he was, his joy at being alive makes perfect sense.
The twist that there are Others (presumably) down in the station sets up the season finale well. As of course does the rest of the story. Sayid comes to the rescue again by pointing out the importance of attracting Naomi’s boat as soon as possible rather than worrying about the Others as Jack is. It’s nice to see what has happened to Karl since we last saw him (309).
The Bad: There are a number of really silly and needless mistakes here. The major plot hole is that Locke stole Ben’s tape recorder. There is no one else with a motive to do that, so you know the Others would have figured that out. So there is no way they would expect Juliet to have got their message about marking the tents. Logically speaking therefore when they see the marked tents they ought to know that it is a trap. This is a foolish oversight that should have been corrected.
Similarly the Looking Glass plans have the word “Hatch” on them. The term “Hatch” in this context is purely a word the survivors used after Locke’s original discovery in season one. The Dharma Initiative, as we know, would have called it a “Station.” Again a foolish mistake that should have been corrected. Speaking of silly production decisions, having a London mugger wearing a cloth cap is ludicrous.
Again Desmond’s vision is a pre-destination paradox. Charlie would never have volunteered to die unless Desmond told him it would lead to Claire’s rescue. It’s a dodgy area of science fiction to start dabbling in when it comes to consistent storytelling. And does Charlie really need to knock Desmond out? Couldn’t he have just insisted instead of risking hurting Desmond?
I’m not quite sure that blowing the Others up is the best idea. For a start it is mass murder. There is no discussion of how many Others are coming, so presumably Jack is prepared to murder as many as come. It seems like a pretty extreme response considering the Others left all of the survivors unharmed for such a long period of time (including when they had many of them held captive). We already know that many of the tail section survivors are living amongst the Others, so the Others have displayed some sense of morality which might preclude you from wanting to slaughter them. Even if you accept that Jack and the other survivors would accept this brutal plan, would it really have met with widespread approval? Presumably Rose (who is quite moral already) believes she is destined to live on this island for the rest of her days, but is now happy to get into a war? Desmond questioned why they should kill Mikhail only three episodes ago, yet goes along with the plan. Juliet lived amongst the Others for several years yet doesn’t seem bothered with killing her former friends. She doesn’t even bring up the issue of whether this action will start a war which the survivors might well lose to their more knowledgeable opponents. Similarly Karl goes along with the murder of his friends, who presumably are the only family he has ever known. It seems like a hasty idea from Jack that someone should have more thoroughly questioned.
But I have saved the most stupid bit of writing for last. Jack decides to demonstrate his plan by blowing up a tree with some dynamite. Not only does this waste some valuable and irreplaceable dynamite but there is a good chance that the Others will hear the explosion. If any Other was nearby and managed to get a glimpse of this scene then the whole plan would be ruined. As ludicrous as that is, even more so is that Jack didn’t demonstrate this stunt to the whole camp, no he chose a select band of survivors. And which select band? That’s right just the main cast who all get their own flashbacks and last names. How exactly did Jack choose that crew? “Ok everyone I need a bunch of you to come witness my plan, how about all of you who I know and like and none of you faceless losers?” It’s a moment that makes Lost look like a television show and not real life. Don’t get me started on how ironic that sentence sounds, you know what I mean.
The Unknown: Why does Alex question if Ben is her father? Is this general anger at him or is she thinking of Sayid’s words about her mother (313)?
Best Moment: Charlie crying on the boat. It’s the first outburst of emotion he has allowed himself to have and it is pretty moving.
The Bottom Line: Despite some really poor thinking from the producers, this episode will be fondly remembered by fans. And why not? The Charlie part of the episode is really good and makes you bond with him. A hero accepting death for selfless reasons is difficult not to like. It is worth saying that Charlie was never as well written as the other characters. His fall from grace in season two and completely bizarre recovery (see 224) undermined any consistency in his character. But for this episode his star shines bright.
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