Lost: S4 Review, Episodes 5 and 6

DESMOND! PHYSICS! DESMOND AND PHYSICS!

Okay so I'm well over a week late...but honestly, who wouldn't want to spend a little time rehashing the best episode of the season so far (even sans mp3) ?

In the intervening time we've also had a slightly less exciting episode, The Other Woman. Since I'm way overdue with both of these, and running short on time (so short this post has no accompanying images!), I'll abbreviate as much as pssble.

Spoilers for Lost episodes 4x05 and 4x06 follow:

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Lost - 4x05 - The Constant

Likes: Who can argue with answers? Speculation about the unusual temporal state the island seems to be in has been widespread since very early in the show's run, so it's extremely pleasing to have some of the details fleshed out and, in the same episode no less, have characters on the island verbally acknowledge the situation. The editing and acting were both very effective in creating a sense of urgency as Desmond raced to save himself from the condition to which Minkowski ultimately succumbed, and yet the slower moments between Desmond and father and daughter Widmore were equally well crafted. Minkowski himself was an excellent guest character, serving his purpose admirably while not lingering on to further expand the outward-spiralling cast list.

Dislikes: Not a whole lot to complain about this week. Sure, some characters (*cough* Sun and Jin *cough*) were absent again, but when the main story is this interesting it's not really an issue. My only real problem with The Constant is the precise nature of Desmond's movements in time. Each jump back to the past lasts exactly the right amount of time for him to complete his particular objective, whether that be a few minutes to phone Penny or several hours to take the train down to Oxford to meet Daniel. Of course, it may transpire that the island (or some other agency) had some kind of control over his flashing back, but within the confines of the episode it was portrayed as more of a random effect.

Overall: Almost certainly the best episode of the season thus far, although I don't think I'd rate it above last year's first Desmond jaunt, Flashes Before Your Eyes.

Rating: 6 out of 7 DHARMA Stations

Well it has taken some time but we finally learned what happened to the helicopter. I was pretty sure that it would tie into the the fact that there is a time differnce from the freighter and the island, but was very interested to see how it was resolved. The Constant ended up being a Desmond centric story and it touched on the idea of time travel just as Flashes Before Your Eyes did in season 3.

I really enjoyed this episode and found myself on the edge of my seat a number of times. It was interesting to see the younger version of Daniel and how he reacted to Desmond being there. All the time travel stuff was fun as well, as I always get a kick out of those sorts of stories. The only dissapointment was that there was so little activity on the island, but given that the audience has been wondering about Sayid and Desmond I suppose it was fair enough to focus on them for the episode.

The Constant scores 6 out of 7 DHARMA Stations.

Lost - 4x06 - The Other Woman

Likes: The whispers are back, which is a nice reminder to all us Lost-lifers that certain unresolved mythology plot points haven't been forgotten about. Also back is the great tradition of guest actors returning to play now deceased characters - The Other 48 Days was probably my number one episode from S2, so seeing Goodwin's involvement in the Juliet-Ben back story fleshed out was pleasing.

Dislikes: Unfortunately this week's island A-plot involved a sequence of coincidental meetings in random jungle clearings. Why Daniel and Charlotte decided to keep it a secret that they were saving everyone's lives is beyond me - it might have been believable if it were Charlotte alone (in which case we could assume she was lying), but Daniel seems to have good intentions and no desire to hurt the castaways. Juliet's back story also wasn't that interesting, despite the A Tale of Two Cities and The Other 48 Days connections. Could a more involving story have been on the cards before Nestor Carbonell (Richard) became unavailable? Who knows, but surely to goodness if you're doing an Others flashback you just gotta have Ethan in there!

Overall: A disappoint comedown from The Constant, but perhaps it would be unfair to expect more at this stage of the season.

Rating: 3 out of 7 DHARMA Stations

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