Since not much happened this week, I’d like to talk about something that’s not plot related: Josh Holloway’s acting. Josh’s scenes this week were phenomenal, and if there’s an actor on Lost not named Emerson or O’Quinn that deserves an Emmy it’s this guy. Looking back on Season 1, it is amazing how far Mr. Holloway has come as an actor. Sawyer started out as a one trick pony. All Holloway had to do back then was look brooding and take off his shirt and the show’s female fans would swoon.
Flash forward six years later and Holloway’s James Ford is now a well rounded character that has fans hanging on his every movie. With just a glance Holloway is able to emote sorrow, hate, anger, loss, grief, rage, you name it! I really believe from start to finish, it is Holloway who has grown the most as an actor and I’m really looking forward to see where his career takes him after Lost ends.
While I’m already off on a tangent, I have to address the biggest complaint I hear from fans about Lost it’s this: Why don’t the characters on the island ever just sit down and talk? The simple act of communication is why I hated this week’s scenes inside the temple so much. It bugs me to no end that the Others won’t just tell the Losties what’s going on. And my buddy Greene asked the best question of the week: if Sawyer and Juliette had grown so close and so in love over the THREE YEARS they spent together back in the 70’s, why didn’t she ever take the time to tell him what was really going on with the Others!?! This lack of communication really infuriates me, and the characters’ stupidity is often times so blatant it takes my focus away from the scene (FYI Lost Writers: that’s not a good thing!).
And now, back to the show! I did think it was cool that Season 6’s second episode was a Kate-centric episode just like Season 1’s second episode. It makes me wonder if the rest of Season 6 will follow Season 1 flash back schedule. If so, that’s a pretty cool little extra Easter egg thrown in for Lost’s observant fans. I also like that the episode’s title, “What Kate Does,” harkens back to the title of Season 2’s ninth episode, “What Kate Did.” What I don’t like, in general, are Kate-centric episodes. This one was better though, only because it prominently featured the return of Emilie de Ravin’s Claire.
We did learn some interesting things about Claire this week. In the Flash Sideways universe, Kate was able to keep Claire and Aaron together (that’s one goal accomplished by the Losties in the Alt-Universe). We also learned that Claire has officially become the new Rousseau! Claire definitely has the look down pat, and I think it’s a great direction for the character. But did she really need to disappear off into the jungle with her father for an entire season for this to happen? It was interesting to learn that Claire was infected by the same “disease” that’s now infecting Sayid, and I guess we now know a little more of the sickness that took over Rousseau and/or her fellow travelers. But, didn’t Rousseau seem fine once she started having human companionship again? Hopefully the same can be said for Claire now that she’s reunited with Jin.
I have to admit, when I first saw those traps out in the jungle, my first thought was they were set up by Rose and Bernard! I think if anyone other than Claire had set those traps I probably would have been pretty disappointed it wasn’t my favorite secondary characters. Along those same lines, I also thought for sure Claire’s OB/GYN in the Flash Sideways was going to be Juliette. And yet again, the show’s writers threw me for a loop. But, seeing Ethan Goodspeed (the Island’s Ethan Rom) put a smile on my face and pretty much dispelled any disappointment I might have felt over not seeing Juliette alive and well in the Alt-Universe.
And now, my rapid fire parting thoughts: Anyone else wondering if there are in fact two groups of Others, the Temple Others led by Dogen and Lennon and the Jungle Others led by Ben/Locke/Widmore/Hawking? I assume the reason Sayid had to take the poison pill willingly, is if the Others forced him to do so it would be murder and that would allow the MIB/smoke monster to judge/kill them, similarly to the rationale behind why Richard told everyone on the beach not to shoot at FLocke. Otherwise the MIB could go all smokey on them like he did in the 4-toed Statue...thoughts? With that being said, I have no idea where the Sayid storyline is going, but it better end well. So far I like it for one reason and one reason only, it’s given Jack a backbone. He finally stopped whining and finally started demanding some answers. Not sure what role Miles will play in all this, but he knows more than he’s letting on. The dead are definitely talking to him!
And lastly, I heard an amazing theory concerning Desmond’s role in the Flash Sideways Alt-Universe and to the Lost story as whole. It has the potential to be a huge spoiler for the season to come (if it proves true), so I won’t go into any details here. But if you’d like to hear more, head over to JayandJack.com and download their Lost podcast from February 5, 2010. It’s the podcast’s theory of the week and it sounds pretty legit to me!
I have to say, after reflecting on this week’s episode I feel unfulfilled again, which is sad and disappointing. With only 15 episodes of Lost left, I hope things start speeding up soon. There’s a lot of ground to cover and not much time left.