Lost: There's No Place Like Home (2)

Locke: "Was he talking about what I think he was talking about?"Ben: "If you mean time traveling bunnies, then yes."Well, that was epic.Ben and the time machineBen has become one of the most fascinating characters on television. He can't be pigeonholed as either good or evil, and we still don't know what motivates him. But I really do think at this point that Ben believes what he's doing is

Lost: There's No Place Like Home (1)

Ben: "How many times do I have to tell you, John? I always have a plan."This is the kind of episode I find hardest to write about: it was mostly windup, with the pitch scheduled to take place, I assume, in the finale. The guest cast was amazing. They brought back a roomful of past guest stars: Jack's mother, whom we haven't seen since season one, Hurley's parents, Sun's parents, and even

Lost: Cabin Fever

Ben: "Destiny, John, is a fickle bitch."I guess I just got the answer to the question, how weird can Lost actually get? Lost isn't just the name of the show. It's also the permanent condition of the audience. Apparently, Claire is now one of the walking dead. Surviving that explosion was really unlikely, after all. Or she could have died from her head injury while she was sleeping, which

Lost: Something Nice Back Home

Jack: "Why aren't you taking your meds?"Hurley: "Because we're dead. All of us. All the Oceanic Six, we're all dead. We never got off the Island."Creepy. And heavy, what with the major ghost action and the extreme close-ups of meatball surgery on the beach at night.Geez, Jack. Controlling much? Although actually, it was in character for Jack to insist on supervising Juliet operating on

Lost: The Shape of Things to Come

Sayid: "What are you doing here?"Ben: "I'm here to find the man who murdered your wife."Wow. That was... wow.As usual, we got a teeny tiny answer or two, and a whole freaking ton of new questions. There was also a lot of death. I've heard it said that Lost is taking the easy path to drama by simply killing off characters, and that may be true. Of course, they also have the biggest cast of

Lost: Meet Kevin Johnson

Sayid: "Why are you on this boat?"Michael: "I'm here to die."For me, this episode was all about death. Death figures into what's going on with the Island in a way that I just don't understand.There's Mikhail Death, where the person just doesn't die, even after something fatal happens to them. There's Island Ghost Zombie Death, which has apparently now happened to Libby. (Along with Christian

Lost: Ji Yeon

Sun: "It's bad luck to talk about baby names now."A combination flashback *and* flash forward. You crafty writers, you.I was totally taken in. It was near the end of the episode before I realized that it was out of character for Jin to be away from Sun's side while she was in labor, even to buy something for the baby. I could feel some awful twist coming; I was almost expecting Jin to get

Lost: The Other Woman

Jack: "You people had therapists?"Juliet: "It's very stressful being an Other, Jack."We got a couple of Big Answers. Numero Uno was that Ben's big enemy on the outside is Charles Widmore. Not a big surprise, since Widmore has popped up everywhere in the story, and I always knew he had to be a major player.And we finally learned what was at the core of Juliet and Ben's dysfunctional

Lost: The Constant

Desmond: "Eight years from now, I need to call you. And I can't call you if I don't have your number."Okay, Sherman. Set the Wayback Machine to 2.342, and oscillate at eleven hertz.So. Now we know. The "side effects" of the Island combined with the Hatch explosion made Desmond bounce back and forth in time like Billy Pilgrim alternating between Dresden and Tralfamador. It wasn't actual,

Lost: Eggtown

Claire: "The last thing I ever thought I'd be good at, being a mom. You know, you should try it sometime."Future Kate was tried for her father's murder, and she plea bargained. It's over. And with a baby and ten years of probation, she can't run any more. Another huge plot point resolved. And only three hundred more plot points introduced. We're making progress.Claire would never give up

Lost: The Economist

Ben: "Why are you crying? Because it hurts? Or because you were stupid enough to care for her?"I gasped out loud three times during this episode. So I guess you could say it was a multiple shocker. Sayid is our fourth member of the Oceanic Six. That was gasp number one. I liked Sayid in flash forwards a lot more than in his previous flashbacks; he was much more interesting as a suave but

Lost: Confirmed Dead

Locke: "Whatever they came for, it isn't us. We keep moving forward as planned."Sawyer: "Sure. Who are we to argue with taller ghost Walt?"We have yet another mysterious faction on the Island. And more questions. I love Lost, I really, truly do. But having yet more questions layered on top of the already ginormous number of existing unanswered questions just bugs me. Can't we have *some*

Lost: The Beginning of the End

Hurley: "I'm one of the Oceanic Six! I'm one of the Oceanic Six!"When we last left our heroes, Charlie was dead. Locke killed Naomi, who didn't stay dead. Desmond killed Mikhail, who didn't stay dead. And we were all confused by the shift from flashback to flashforward. Looks like we get to stay confused.Flashforward Hurley was seeing dead people. Mental illness, or Island weirdness? (I

Lost: Through the Looking Glass

Charlie: "So much for fate."Wow. Is it possible to be thrilled and disappointed at the same time? This was a massively cool episode, even by Lost's high standards. There were some absolutely fabulous moments. Charlie's amazing sacrifice. Hurley saving the day with his hippie van. Danielle finally meeting her daughter. That final scene with Jack and Kate near the airport, of all

Lost: Greatest Hits

Nadia: "You are hero, sir. And don't let anyone ever tell you differently."This was an amazing, moving episode. It was very much Charlie's last hurrah. The weird thing was that he didn't hurrah. It was like leaving the punch line off the end of a joke. But it was still the best Charlie episode so far, and possibly ever. I actually started crying not once, but three times, when Charlie

Lost: The Man Behind the Curtain

Locke: "Why did you do this?"Ben: "Because you heard him."Answers! And of course, more questions. I went to bed right after this episode and actually dreamed about it all night. I think my subconscious was still trying to figure it out. My subconscious failed miserably.So Ben was the child of a Dharma Initiative member. He allied with the Hostiles and committed the mass murder of the

Lost: The Brig

Sawyer: "How 'bout that. Sawyer's my name, too."Major plot resolution! I almost can't believe it. And for not one character, but two. Not that I was shocked, or anything. Many of us guessed way back in season two that Cooper had to be the original Sawyer. I also thought Locke wouldn't betray his friends on the beach, and he didn't. Cooper was a revolting, toxic human being, and if there

Lost: D.O.C.

Sun: "I lose, either way."So Sun has only two months to live. That will probably take her to the end of the series, though, at the rate we're going.I have to ask the obvious. We have two doctors and the secret room in the medical hatch. If this isn't a "health of the mother" situation, what is? I wonder if perhaps Sun feels that trying to have Jin's baby when it will almost certainly kill

Lost: Catch-22

Hurley: "This is future crap, isn't it?"Finally. A definitive explanation on why Desmond calls everyone "brother." If Lost is ultimately about the journey of each of these characters, then this one gave us a big piece of the mystery that is Desmond. I really like Desmond. He's not the coward that he thinks he is; he just finds it hard to make decisions and commit, and he's run away from

Lost: One of Us

Juliet: "If I told you who I was, if I told you everything that I know, you'd kill me."Sayid: "What do you think I'll do if you don't?"So Juliet is a spy, after all. Or is she? I'm positive that Juliet has no love for the Others; they're holding her sister's health hostage. When it comes down to it, which way will Juliet jump? The title of the episode might be a clue, since the one that