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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lost: Ji Yeon

Sun: "It's bad luck to talk about baby names now."

A combination flashback *and* flash forward. You crafty writers, you.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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* answers? I mean, come on.

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.

Lost: Through the Looking Glass

Charlie: "So much for fate."

Wow. Is it possible to be thrilled and disappointed at the same time?

Lost: Greatest Hits

Nadia: "You are a 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.

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.

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.

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.

Lost: Catch-22

Hurley: "This is future crap, isn't it?"

Finally. A definitive explanation on why Desmond calls everyone "brother."

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 introduced Ben in season two was called, "One of Them."

Lost: Left Behind

Kate: "Welcome to the wonderful world of not knowing what the hell is going on."

Mud-wrestling and barbecue. What's not to love?

Lost: Expose

Nikki: "I'm just a guest star. And we all know what happens to guest stars."

Rod Serling would be so proud.

Lost: The Man From Tallahassee

Ben: "Tell me, John. Did it hurt?"
Locke: "I felt my back break. What do you think?"

In his continuing quest to blow up every important installation on the Island, Locke has now taken out the submarine. There's no way off the incredible moving Island anymore. Bad Locke. No biscuit.

Lost: Par Avion

Claire: "I guess we don't always turn out like our mothers want."

I am so patting myself on the back, because I guessed back in season two (in "Two for the Road") that Claire was Jack's half-sister. It also explained why Christian Shephard's last act was to run off for Australia. I love it when plotlines come together.

Lost: Enter 77

Hurley: "Are we playing with the mercy rule?"

Torture. Redemption. Cows.

Lost: Tricia Tanaka is Dead

Sawyer: "I'll be damned. Y'all found yourselves a hippie car."

Not every Lost episode has to be dire and full of angst. Hurley-centric episodes are never my favorite, but they're always amusing and this one made me laugh out loud a dozen times. The meteor strike had me howling. And the scenes with the guys and the van were fun.

Lost: Stranger in a Strange Land

Achara: "There are things that happen here you could never understand."

How cool that they wrote an entire episode centered on part of Matthew Fox's tattoo. Are we going to get one about the rest of his tattoo next season?

Lost: Flashes Before Your Eyes

Charlie: "I don't buy all this precognitive insanity rubbish. Look, if the bearded wonder could predict the future, he wouldn't have ended up here, would he?"

Holy wow.

Lost: Not in Portland

Juliet: "Whatever you think I am, I'm not."

We finally got the Other side of the story, pun intended. Juliet is a prisoner. She's as helpless as Jack is. And she's not just a fertility doctor; she's a groundbreaking genius who broke the rules for her sister's sake.

Lost: I Do

Sawyer: "And how was your day, honey?"

Marrying a cop while running from the law. That was what you might call ironic.

Lost: The Cost of Living

Altar boy: "Are you a bad man? My mom says you're a bad man."
Eko: "Only God knows."

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Lost: Every Man For Himself

Sawyer: "That's why you never get attached. Because once you care, that's when they can come atcha."

And they were hurting Sawyer again. Why do they keep doing that?

Lost: Further Instructions

Locke: "Bad things happen to people who hang around with me."

So Locke, Eko, and Desmond all survived the strange, supermagnet-induced blast. How the hell did they do that when the Hatch was a huge, imploded hole in the ground?

Lost: The Glass Ballerina

Sun: "Why are you lying to me, Sayid?"
Sayid: "And what would you know about lying, Sun?"

Sun, Sun, Sun. You hussy, you.

So far, we've seen Sun as the most virtuous female in the cast, a woman who made a well-planned, concerted effort to escape from her domineering husband only to give it up because she truly loved him. But now, we're finally seeing another side of Sun.

Lost: A Tale of Two Cities

Juliet: "It doesn't matter who we were. It only matters who we are."

And it's a whole new ball game.

Lost: Live Together, Die Alone

Desmond: "I think I crashed your plane."

Any episode that starts with Sayid and Sawyer taking off their shirts is okay by me. Four out of four polar bears. The end.

Lost: Three Minutes

Sayid: "I think Michael has been compromised."

This was more of a puzzle piece than an episode with a clear theme. We got some interesting new facts, some character development, and a whole lot of questions.

Lost: ?

Eko: "We do it because we believe we are meant to."

I'm confused. Lost is so complex that I'm starting to feel inadequate. Can reviewers get performance anxiety?

Lost: Two for the Road

Ana Lucia: "You tell anyone about this and I'll kill you."
Sawyer: "Guess that takes cuddling off the table."

A whole freaking season, practically nothing happens. And then, boom. Hot sex and multiple character deaths, all in one episode.

Lost: S.O.S.

Eko: "People are saved in different ways, Bernard."
Bernard: "I think I liked you better when you just hit people with your stick."

This was a really sweet episode, and notable for being about continuing guest stars instead of cast. But frankly, my dear, not a whole lot happened. Except that I seem to have a lot to say about it.

Lost: Dave

Hurley: "Did either of you see a guy run through here? In a bathrobe, with a coconut?"
Charlie: "No. But I saw a polar bear on roller blades with a mango."

Okay, show of hands. Who knew that Dave was an imaginary person right off the bat? Wow, that's quite a few hands. I think they could have been a lot more subtle. This episode was way too cloying and predictable... right up until the shock ending.

Lost: Lockdown

Sawyer: "How 'bout you put your mangoes where your mouth is?"

I love this show. But they keep promising answers and not delivering! It's frustrating, damn it. Fie on them. I'm going to give up on this show and start watching sitcoms on Wednesday. No, I'm lying.

Lost: The Whole Truth

Jin: "A baby will change everything. A baby will make it better."

Now we know who taught Sun English (Mr. Lee) and where she was going to run (the U.S.). If she's only a couple of months along, did she get pregnant right after the crash? Or before?

Lost: Maternity Leave

Sawyer: "No boys allowed, huh?"

This show is dominated by male characters, and it was refreshing to have an episode that focused almost exclusively on the women. How about that girlpower? Kate got to take charge and lead an expedition into the jungle, which was just her thing. Claire got to do something more than scream about someone hurting her baby. And I loved that there was absolution for Danielle Rousseau.

Lost: One of Them

Danielle: "You talk to him, Sayid. As I recall, that is what you do."

I don't like episodes about torture. And yet, Sayid is my favorite character. Consider the irony.

Lost: The Long Con

Sawyer: "You run, I con. Tiger don't change its stripes."

When the series began, a lot of the interpersonal conflict on the Island was caused by Sawyer. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was thinking that having Sawyer so integrated into the gang was adorable, but eliminated a great source of conflict. Guess the writers felt the same way.

Lost: Fire + Water

Charlie: "Kate sees a horse: nothing. Pretty much everybody's seen Walt wandering round the jungle. But when it's Charlie, it must be the bloody drugs, right?"

I'm not really sure what happened in this episode.

Lost: The Hunting Party

Sawyer: "You and me ain't done, Zeke."

Don't get me wrong, because I adore Jack. But what I liked most about this episode was Sawyer.

Lost: The 23rd Psalm

Drug dealer: "Is it true what they say about you?"
Eko: "And what is that?"
Drug dealer: "You have no soul."

Eko's backstory is as powerful as he is. This was an amazing episode.

Lost: What Kate Did

Kate: "I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you. I'm sorry I'm not as good."

I'm glad that we now know what she did. It explains a lot about her. But still... I wish her murder had been less ambiguous. I wanted her victim to be a monster, not just a stereotypical wife beater and pathetic loser. I mean, not to get too personal, but I've been in a worse situation than either Kate or her mother, and it didn't drive me to murder. Or maybe there was something else that drove her to it. I didn't quite get what Kate and Sgt. Austen were talking about that happened when Kate was five.