LOST 4x02 'Confirmed Dead' review- contains spoilers for season three
February 19th 2008 04:18
I am starting to get a bit frustrated with this programme. It shows moments of immense promise, and then leaves you high and dry. Watching LOST is akin to having someone holding a box in front of you, saying ‘Nah, nah, I’ve got the biggest secret inside this box, and I’m not gonna show you’. The third season ended on a very high note, with a string of rather consistently good episodes, and the potential for our castaways to be rescued by helicopter. Season four picks up where that left off, with our survivors unsure whether they can trust their apparent ‘rescuers’.
We now, thanks to the clever flash-forward scenes, know that Jack, Kate, Hurley, and at least a few others make it off the island alive. Fans are going nuts on the forums trying to work out who will escape, and who will kick the bucket. I have more than an intuitive hunch that at least someone will die before this (short, thanks to the Writers Guild strikes) season reaches its end. J.J Abrams and the creative team on this show seem to have a macabre fascination with killing their main characters off in shocking and unexpected ways. It makes for uneasy viewing. Nothing is safe on this show, all bets are off. Your favourite character can bite it as quick as blink. I cannot for the life of me understand why the producers introduced a new set of core characters in season 4 (fans are calling the rescuers the Boaties) when there are just so many characters already; each of them fighting for screentime. Poor Jin, Sun, and Claire are really struggling to get a word in edgeways recently. LOST has one of the biggest ensemble casts in TV history. How can they possibly give everyone a slice of the action when there are so many characters to service? I feel that someone is going to die in order to free up storytelling room.
The new characters are fairly interesting, but their motives remain a mystery. We’re still no closer to discovering what the hell the Others are all about. I kind of miss the series one days, when it was just our core Oceanic 815 survivors interacting with each other, and trying to get along together. When your series revolves around a gigantic mystery, it is very difficult to maintain a balance between keeping the series interesting, and maintaining the intrigue. LOST asks a lot more questions than it answers, most of the time. Originally, this show was primarily concerned with the characters and their relationships. But this Others mumbo-jumbo in more recent seasons can get very tiresome.
I like the storyline with the Oceanic survivors splitting into two factions, one choosing to follow spiritual type John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), and the other following Dr Jack Sheppard (Matthew Fox). Finally, a bit of dissention in the ranks. I always wondered why everyone blindly followed Jack, as if his title of Doctor gives him any right to be a ‘leader’. I always thought Sayid or Locke would make a more competent leader. The show these days seems to be the ‘Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Locke Show’ with the rest of the Losties playing second fiddle. Jack and Kate aren’t particularly likeable characters, but they have always been in the limelight from day one. Locke and Sawyer are more likeable, for different reasons (Locke’s just a badass, and Sawyer’s a total jerk but the only Lostie with a sense of humour aside from Hurley!). The tension between these two latter men in recent episodes has been a joy to witness. I still feel really bad for Jin, Sun, and the lovely Claire, because they are given maybe two lines an episode!
There are not many episodes remaining in the curtailed season four, so we’ll just wait and see what happens. Will we get any major payoffs this year? Only time will tell.
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
The eternal jerking you around with out any hope of escape.