Episode 1 - LA X (1)
12 February 2010
Review
Present: Jughead seems to have jumped the survivors back to 2007 where the remains of the hatch implosion are still in evidence. Everyone has survived unscathed though including Juliet who is trapped beneath the wreckage. Jacob comes to Hurly and tells him to take Sayid to the Temple to be saved. Juliet dies and Sawyer blames Jack. Meanwhile at the beach it begins to dawn on Ben who Locke really is. Bram and company try to kill him with guns but Locke turns into the smoke monster and kills them all.
Flashback: In a flash sideways we see Jack back on Flight 815 but with a few differences. The flight passes over the island which is now under water. Desmond is on the flight and Jack seems to recognise him. He saves Charlie’s life after he swallowed his bag of heroin. Hurley claims nothing bad ever happens to him and Boone is without Shannon. They land safely in LA with Kate and Charlie both in handcuffs.
The Good: It’s rare that I have so little to complain about and so much to praise. It’s almost a more difficult task. Obviously the headline coming out of this is how the producers have chosen to take the story. They are proverbially having their cake and eating it too by showing us both the continuation of the island narrative and having the survivors avoid crashing on the island. But they have also made it clear that the two narratives are not unrelated. Presumably the story of this season will be how they are connected.
The flashsideways is yet another clever twist on storytelling but it’s not the idea that I think is most praiseworthy. The real joy here is that I don’t think a casual viewer will be confused at all by seeing these characters ‘reset’ to 2004. That’s because the writing has kept the characters very true to their original selves and focussed strongly on the state each character was in when they arrived on the island. So to see Jack mourning his father, Charlie as an addict, Kate as a convict and Locke as a cripple are not unfamiliar things. We don’t need reminding of their stories because the show has done such a thorough job over five seasons of reminding us how that flight changed all their lives.
Despite five seasons having passed and indeed the “Three years later” developments of seasons four and five, we have really only seen these characters develop over a few months. So within the show’s narrative the events of Flight 815 don’t feel like ancient history, they feel relevant and important. Whether the producers knew back in Season one that they would end up here, I don’t know. But by keeping each character’s story relatively simple and presenting them consistently and entertainingly for five years this twist is both simple and compelling.
And of course, it’s not as if all is as we remember it. Desmond appears in the seat next to Jack, literally seeing him in another life. That’s the first clue that life has changed and the shot of the island buried at the bottom of the ocean asks a huge question about what happened in 1977. But then we have Boone alone, Hurley happy and a few other definitive details such as Jack being handed only one bottle of alcohol by Cindy. The question seems to be what role the island and its inhabitants played in the lives of the survivors before they boarded 815. It’s an intriguing scenario and plays into the show’s rich mythology in a way which should keep both casual and hardcore fans happy.
On the island I was also pleasantly surprised by the continuity and evidence of advance planning. I was not a fan of some of the Season five developments. Particularly the haste with which Jack’s plan came together and the lack of questions asked about such a life altering decision. It almost felt thrown together but here we start to see that it was all connected to where the story was headed. We get some pretty big revelations from the present too. The Man in Black is the smoke monster, which confirms their connection and the way his deception worked on Ben (512). We also see the reason for the circles of ash (320) and why one was placed around Jacob’s cabin.
So to the details. There was a ton of stuff which will please fanatics and which perhaps also point to clues about what is going on. Flight 815 still has its original captain (voiced by Greg Grunberg). Jack seems to recognise Desmond, but we don’t know where from yet. There was a Dharma shark roaming around the sunken island. The Marshall was present and correct keeping an eye on Kate. Artz was back being annoying with the now apparently happy Hurley (the numbers caused him nothing but bad luck originally). Boone looked to follow Locke once more and we don’t know if Locke did get a chance to go on his walkabout or not. Charlie’s resuscitation brought several old lines to the surface such as Jack looking for a pen and Charlie claiming he was meant to die (which was of course what he concluded in Season three).
The emotive scene as we see the survivors leave the plane is quite remarkable in a way. The producers have specialised in turning the entrance and exit from various vehicles (123, 125, 412, 414) into emotional scenes. But it’s still impressive for its simplicity and here its double surreal seeing these characters unaware of the significance of their safe exit.
Back on the island we have Kate experiencing the temporary deafness which Charlie suffered after the Hatch implosion (224) which was good continuity and a nice disorientating introduction to the present. Sawyer’s fury at Jack made perfect sense. Hurley not knowing how to use a gun was a very nice touch, especially considering everyone else knows how to. Sayid being taken to the Temple to be healed seems like a nice irony considering that is where young Ben was taken after getting shot by Sayid (511).
Ben asks the obvious question (why Jacob stood there and took his stabbing) which was good to see. His look of absolute terror when Locke reappears after the smoke monster rampage was exactly how he should have been feeling. The smoke monster attack was excellent, both in providing answers and as a brutal scene. The way he outsmarted Bram, knocking him out of his circle in order to kill him showed the very real threat he poses.
The Bad: Emotionally it seemed slightly redundant for Juliet to survive and have her and Sawyer say goodbye again. But that’s a very small complaint because she clearly provided another piece of the puzzle (though I didn’t know that till the next episode).
The Unknown: So much is unknown but let me start with a potential production issue. In the original story Jack agreed to have a drink with Ana Lucia on the plane. If she were on the flight then surely she would have seen him what with all the walking up and down he was doing. But of course it’s possible she wasn’t on the flight or indeed never had the first drink with him. I doubt it will be raised again.
Of course the major question is how the flashsideways were created and how that reality is connected to what is going on on the island. So then who exactly is on the flight and who is not? Why is Shannon not there? Why does Hurley now have good luck? Is Locke lying to Boone or did he actually go on his walkabout? It’s worth asking where he got the idea considering Matthew Abaddon gave it to him originally (411). Why was Desmond there or indeed was he there? Did he still go on his trip around the world? Presumably Eloise was never in that ring shop to confront him (308). What was the cut on Jack’s neck on the plane?
What was Juliet talking about when she asked Sawyer to go get coffee with her? Was she flashing back to an earlier time in life the way Charlotte seemed to do before she died (505)? What was she going to tell Sawyer?
The extent of Jacob’s omniscience is in question here. He looks at Sayid as if he is assessing what to do next. But presumably he has a measure of control in all of this. As you can tell from the fact that he befriended Hurley (517) before this incident so he could talk to him once dead. Similarly bullets bounce off the Man in Black but a knife managed to kill Jacob.
Best Moment: For me it would be the smoke monster scene and Ben’s reaction. But second place might simply be seeing old fashioned Locke just chatting to Boone. There is something very real about the way he talks, clearly not wanting to tell Boone anything too personal but being friendly nonetheless. A reminder of one of the things which hooked me in the first place.
The Bottom Line: Flawless is the word which comes to mind. That might be praise to high but never before have I watched a show after six seasons which can be as good as this. It’s the mastery of the details and the characters which is so impressive considering how complicated the story really is.
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