[UPDATE: I decided to give ratings to the episodes.]
Hey there Internetica, it’s a good week for a comeback. The Oscar Nominations are out (too late!) Heath Ledger’s dead (too soon!) and holy cow, there’s a new episode of Lost tonight.
Seriously? Lost! I’d begun to think I’d imagined that show all along.
Well, that’s not exactly true. Because in the 9 month abyss that seperated the season 3 finale from the season 4 premiere the Lost producers took it upon themselves to produce 13 two minute episodes of something called Lost: Missing Pieces. A small attempt to remind the viewers that Lost still exists and may be back one day.
I figured in honor of tonight’s episode I’d write a little review up for Lost Missing Pieces.
The Watch: Missing Pieces got off to a slow I think it would be fair to say with this Jack flashback. It’s about him, and his dad (the great John Terry who was also in Zodiac) and a watch.
What’s interesting is that this scene shows a rare moment of amicability between two usually antagonistic characters. 6/10
Hurley And Frogurt: Frogurt, you’ve heard the name, now the meet the frozen desert himself. Frogurt is kind of a dick but I enjoyed this humrous, character developing Hurley centric escapade. 7/10
King Of The Castle: Jack and Ben. Playing chess. It’s a metaphore for all kinds of… stuff. I wouldn’t exactly say that this Piece was Missed. 6/10
The Deal: Michael’s back! Set durnig Michael’s captivity with The Others this is a scene with Juliet and Michael. It’s a simple but deep conversation where Juliet confesses how afraid she is of Walt. I love the way a little bit of information can so subtly change the story. Apparently Michael and Juiliet have met, and Michael knew Ben’s real name! Not the revelations of the millenium but strange little bits of information that provide an new layer of meaning to certain scenes. One of my favorite episodes. 8/10
Operation Sleeper: Juliet wakes up Jack in the middle of the night and confessess everything. Jack emotes.
It’s actually marks a pretty significant scene for Juliet. The moment where she finally picks a side. Also, of note Juliet has a quick line about Ben and the submarine. It ties back to King of the Castle and actually makes that episode better for me. 7/10
Room 23: one of the biggest “missing pieces” of the series, as far as what i’m curius about, is Walt’s time with The Others. This episode with Ben and Juliet fills it in a little bit. The title eludes to the room that Beatric threaten Walt with and it turns out we’ve seen it before. Although we don’t see Walt make an appearence we feel his presence via a brilliantly used gimmick which ties back to an earlier episode. 9/10
Arzt & Crafts: Beloved casualty Dr. Arnzt returns to wine and bitch. But this one is really about the language disconect between the Kwon’s and the rest of the islanders. Boone and Shannon make a conspicuously off screen appearance. 7/10
Buried Secrets: One of the great delights of these tiny snipets is the way they force us to orient ourselves in the timeline. And in typical Cuseloff-esque (That’s Carlton Cuse + Damon Lindeloff with a suffix attached for good measure) style they delight in psyching us out.
Oh, what a buried secret it is to which the title refers. 8/10
Tropical Depression: This Arnzt sequel is definitly the superior of the two. One of the things the writers get to do with these episode is explain away some of the (many) plot incosistencies the fans love to obsess over. What’s that? I’m eating peanut butter but in previous episodes I said I was allergic to peanuts? Oh look I found my allergy medication.
This episode serves as a clever way for the writers to explain why the monsoon, predicted by Arnzt in the series 1 finale never showed up. The explaination steps on the toes of the Arnzt mythos but it ad ds way more than it takes away. I like to think of this episode as Arnzt’s long awaited flashback episode. Hillarious, heartbreaking, illuminating and exactly right. This is the best of the series. 10/10
Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack: And this one’s a close second. Everyone’s favorite Tom Cruise relative is back to reprise his role as everyones favorite cant-put-my-finger-on-it but-this-guys-not-quite-right villain Ethan Rom. Ethan drops a doozy that changes the way I’ll look at him forever. But my favorite part is the ret-conning job. Fans have always thought it was a little too convientient how well stocked the survivors have been. When ever anyone needs something it seems to conviently turn up in peice of luggage. Well this episode suggests that The Others may play a hand in that. Which means their presence has been benevolent as well as mallicious. 10/10
Jin Has A Temper: Fuck it. This is my favorite episode. Remember when the losties used to play golf? Why don’t they play golf anymore? Maybe this episode will shed some light on the subject. Watch it, memorize it, love it. 10/10
The Envelope: What I loved bout the Missing Pieces Series (eventually. At first I thought it was gay) is the expendability of it all. None of these stories need to be told particularly. It’s a chance to revisit the quiet moments, the stuff that gets cut out for Jiffy Lube commercials. Here’s a quiet little moment of little consequence. It’s about somehting that almost happens but doesn’t. 8/10
So It Begins: The big shabang moment of the series. A satisfying episode that brings things full circle. 8/10
Popularity: 95% [?]
