Lost: The Unexplodable Eyeliner

Wait, what was this episode actually called? Oh right. “Dr. Linus”. Anyway, I didn’t do a whole fancy liveblog thing but my spoiler-filled bulletpoints follow:

1. First, let’s just note that we haven’t seen Sawyer (in either timeline) in weeks. Which is odd, since we haven’t seen him in LA since the plane, and the last time we saw him on the Island he was signing up with MIB, who we have seen lots of over the last couple of weeks. While I’m complaining, we haven’t seen Charlie or Boone or Desmond since the premiere, either! Also probably some other important characters I’m forgetting about. I understand the realities of making expensive television shows, but it is difficult to suspend my disbelief with respect to these characters’ extended absences.
2. But second, this was a pretty great episode. Very satisfying as a standalone (another Lostie gets unknowing redemption in the alternate timeline, even as we see it may be too late to get it on the Island), and refreshingly helpful with respect to the larger story (too much to say about this in a parenthetical, so…).
3. We got almost infinite nods to us patient fans. Nikki & Paulo & their diamonds; slo-mo campfire & reunited castaway hugs; a happy Alex; Arzt acting like a dick; and, most importantly, characters behaving in ways consistent with (and clearly because of) stuff that happened to them long, long ago. Basically, we pathetically loyal viewers were rewarded with something more than stunt-casting in the alternate timeline (although we got some of that, too, and I can’t say I minded). At this rate Sayid may even acknowledge at some point that Shannon was his girlfriend before she got shot in the gut by a Puerto Rican with a DUI problem. Hell, I’d be satisfied if he remembered that she ever existed at all.
4. We actually got some direct answers (and some indirect ones)! For example, we know now that although Jacob seemed resigned to his death (or even welcoming of it), he was actually hoping Ben might not stab him in the chest. Though you have to admit that he kind of goaded Ben into it (“What about you?” was just cold). We also got pretty close to confirmation that Ricardus first showed up on the Island on the Black Rock, and that he got his immortality from Jacob, and that he’s kind of a weenie. We learned that MIB can undo shackles from afar, just like Magneto. And we found out that even if you tell someone they’re digging their own grave, if you point a gun at them they’ll do it anyway.
5. PLOT DEVELOPMENT! HOLY CRAP, PLOT DEVELOPMENT! Okay, so that was mostly just the last 10 seconds of the episode, but it seems Charles Widmore has managed to find his way to the Island. Is this because Jacob’s not around to warp Earth’s magnetic fields? Perhaps we’ll find out! But yeah, probably not. Still, it’s nice to have something happen other than additional castaways choosing which supernatural being they want to throw in with.
6. Oh, that reminds me: if I could change one thing about Lost, I would get rid of the guest cast names they show in the first few minutes. Because as pathetic as it may be to recognize Alan Dale’s name, that is where I’m at, so I spent the whole episode wondering when, exactly, Widmore would appear. And of course once there were only 10 seconds left in the episode I pretty much knew who was in that sub.
7. Miles got to have his Sixth Sense moment and then got back to being funny. Funny Miles, you’re the best.
8. For better or for worse, Jack seems to have completely moved from man of science to man of faith. When he sat in that tinderbox, grinning at the lit dynamite, it might as well have been Locke, assuring poor dumb Boone that there was a reason they found that hatch. This isn’t quite new — he basically exhibited an equal amount of blind faith in last year’s “let’s blow up a bomb and then we’ll be saved for some reason” plotline (which, let’s remember, he started this season out believing had utterly failed) — but it is a startling shift for a character who used to act as the voice of reason who wasn’t Hurley and cried disconcertingly often. Anyway, I’m hoping it turns out that his faith in Jacob is horribly misplaced. Mostly because that would validate my predictions early this season.
9. I do hope we manage to get Sun and Jin together next week, though. Not because I care so much as because I am sick of hearing about it.
10. Now let’s talk about Ben for a second. I have to say, I’m not a huge Ben guy. I don’t find his character (or the actor) annoying, but I’ve always felt they got more than their share of acclaim from fans and critics (see also: Locke/Terry O’Quinn, another guy who does a good job with great writing). That said, this episode went a long way toward justifying the extensive attention he’s gotten (both from us and from the Lost writers) — the alternate timeline shone a light on how different Ben could have been if he hadn’t been raised by an alcoholic asshole on a desolate Island populated by crazy hobos and jumpsuited hippies. And, as I alluded to above, it gave Ben some closure on a couple of his more reprehensible transgressions, but it did so without simply undoing them. Like Sayid last week, the Ben who did those things can never really escape them; at the same time (literally?), he cares for his father and his daughter-figure and passes up a petty despotism on their behalf. It wasn’t the subtlest storytelling but it was effective nonetheless.

I wasn’t worried about Lost. The last few episodes were kinda slow and not entirely satisfying, but I trusted the show would right the ship and start driving towards a conclusion. And tonight’s episode got us moving in that direction. It rewarded those of us who have dedicated way more time to obsessing over (fictional!) minutia, and it told a self-contained story that advanced our understanding of a central character. And it did all that without me frustratedly swearing aloud because Jack failed to ask an obvious question (although actually it would have been nice if he had pushed Richard to be a little more specific about his background). It reminded me of how good this show can be at times, and even if most of the rest of this season doesn’t clear that bar at least it’ll all be better than Dollhouse.

Next week: I didn’t watch the preview, because I never watch the preview, because all the preview does is lie. It’s like local news promos: “What Christmas toy could kill your child? Tune in at 11 or little Billy will die.” But I’m hoping we get to see some more faces from the past put to use for actual plot-advancing ends, and some more details unfolding without introducing too many new questions. And like I said before, I’m really hoping we get this Sun/Jin reunion over with so we can move on to bigger and better things.