On Lost: "Because You Left; The Lie"

After a terribly long 9 months Damon and Carlton decided the best way to get our heads back into Lost was to smack them with a steel-cooking utensil. One might say the skipping record player in last night's 2-episode season premiere was a visual representation of what is going on the island. I say the frying pan used by a drugged Sayid to smash the head of an unknown assailant was a tad more accurate.

After last night's "3 hour Lost-a-thon" it's hard for anyone to say Lost is not back with a vengeance. There might have to be a new term created for the "post Lost hangover" aka "my brain just got exploded by last night's episode, and I'm trying to piece back my perceptions of reality." The first of the two new episodes, "Because You Left," had to have been one of the most fast-paced and mind challenging episode of Lost to date. The introduction of our beloved Losties skipping through "time" on the island seems quite removed from where we started as plane crash survivors struggling to live on a deserted island. At the same time though, the instability of the time-space continuum on the island has brought back the same exact feeling we had during season 1: that of people stranded and trying to survive on a island. We forget that in the past 3 seasons, the Losties had developed and acquired very nice luxuries, even beer as Sawyer exclaimed in the episode. Five years into a television series, even one as incredible as Lost, you would not expect it to be able to take such an incredible journey and still be able to bring it back to one of its original themes, "survival." While all this "time warping" is going to be thought of as great science fiction, the thing that sets Lost apart from most other "science fiction" labels is that the science fiction on Lost serves the human drama. That, my friends, is why it is one of the greatest shows on television.

While the first episode smashed our heads with a frying pan, the second episode, titled "The Lie," gave us a bag of ice to nurse our wounds. This was made completely effective by focusing on the lovable Hurley. Jorge Garcia gave yet another Emmy-caliber performance by not only giving us the comic relief we definitely needed, but also by showing compassion, fear, and strength. The reason why people will always love Hurley is that the writers use the character to portray and represent our emotions and the reason why Jorge Garcia deserves an Emmy is he perfectly plays the character. Hurley is our ice pack and without him we would get no relief. By the end of "The Lie," one thing became shockingly clear: our Losties are not in for an easy ride, and neither are we.

Questions for discussion:

The Ring Lady aka Ms. Hawkings is Back!: Is she the leader of the gang trying to get back to the island? She certainly seemed in charge of Ben, if anyone thought that was possible. Is she Faraday's mother? It seemed all too coincidental that Faraday sent Desmond after his mother, and that Ms. Hawkings seems to know what's going on the island.
Who/What is Moving Through Time?: Ok, we know that the Losties (or people that aren't in Alpert's clan) are moving through time on their own journey. The Island is obviously moving as well, since we all saw it "bloop" to who knows where last season. So what's going on? It seems like all levels of messed up.

"The Incident": We have all heard from the Swan Hatch Orientation film that there was an incident on the island, which was the reason why Desmond had to release the Island's exponential amount of energy in small timed releases every 108 minutes. While we don't know exactly if the incident occurred at the Swan Hatch location or the Orchid, it seems obvious now that someone may have drilled too far and released the energy. The question now is if "The Incident" was similar to what is happening now on the Island. Was the Swan Station Dharma's way of fixing it? Or was it was something less severe?

Poor Frogurt: While I was excited to see that they gave Neil "Frogurt" some screen time, I was even more excited to see how they were going to "Arzt" him (see: Season 1 finale if you do not remember) and they did not disappoint. Should I really be laughing that much at someone burning alive? Is there something wrong with me?

John "Christ" Locke?: It almost seems too obvious that Locke is going to pull a resurrection on his return to the island. Now, I have always been a huge Locke fan and supporter, so I am personally ok with him being the island savoir. Are you?

I know there is much more to discuss from just these two episodes, but these are the points I wanted to bring up. So give me your thoughts, theories, and suggestions right here, and lets see if we can help our headaches go away.

If you crave even more Lost Talk check out my podcast, "The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack" or on iTunes.

Comments

[ACMallet]

I still would like to know why, after the season 2 finale and the hatch exploded, is it no longer necessary to release island energy every 108 minutes?

Did Desmond's turning the fail-safe key fix it permanently?

What changed that made the 108-minute adjustment no longer necessary?

[KJusko]

I think some people are upset that Lost is now OBVIOUSLY science fiction, where as in the first season it was maybe science fiction, maybe fantasy, maybe hell or purgatory, maybe a dream, maybe none of those and there's a logical real-world explanation, a la Scoopy Do (just kidding about Scoopy Do)

But you can't sustain that kind of mystery for five seasons. Well, you could, but then you'll end up with X-Files conspiracy arc.

Even if the show is more obviously sci-fi, they're still a lot of questions, such as why all the coincidences OFF the island, unless one possible consequence of playing around with time...hmm­..let me think...

[llisa]

Glad I missed them.

[gloriousbeing]

LOVE IT! So EXCITED it is back on!!! I'll watch it till the end, because it continues to surprise me!

[greendream]

I've been watching the show since day 1 and the only time I almost stopped watching was when Charlie died. I decided to stop watching it for the characters and give it another go just for the mythology.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, it can be confusing but I just find it fun to watch. I stopped trying to figure it all out and opted to just sit back and watch it unfold.

[michaelbisson]

I really like how the island is almost becoming a character unto itself.

Faraday as Dharma? Ka-boom went my head.

[stefiz]

i love lost!! i am glad it's back on!!

[margueritecrosss]

Exactly--the most addictive tv show ever! I actually miss it during hiatus and look forward to it's return. I even got DVR a few years ago so I would never miss an episode! I love all of the characters, some more than others; the writers are top-notch and IMHO it just gets better each season, I am always left wanting more. I find it difficult to believe that people don't like this show.

I wonder how many fans of the show are readers. I only ask this question because I love to read as a past-time, not in my spare time, I actually make room in my schedule to read--and this show plays out like a really great and engrossing novel. I think that this is a perfect show for people that actually like to read (and think) and appreciate complex story-lines. I am so tired of contrived story lines and series shows, not to mention theatrical releases. Lost meets all of my entertainment needs, and I also get to use my brain and suspend disbelief in order to follow the path the writers weave---all elements a great novel would provide for a reader.

I love this series, probably one of my all time favorite series' and will feel a little "lost" when the series wraps up.

[Marina56]

I love Lost! Hurley, Sayid and Sawyer are my favorite characters, and they had better make it through to the end, otherwise I'm going to be irritated. Jack has become my least favorite character, but I think he's a necessary foil to several of the other characters.

The show keeps me interested, because I have not yet figured out how they're going to tie all of this up in a halfway coherant fashion, and because the characters keep getting fleshed out more and more.

[Rip Empson - Huffpost Blogger]

Matthew Fox (Jack) was quoted as saying that he'll be relieved when the show is over. Obviously that is partly because the cast has been working on one show for 6 years and hasn't had much of a chance to take on other projects. But it has to make you wonder if he was also referring to the steady decline in quality and believability of the show. With the possible exceptions of Ben and Jack, are any of the characters following interesting arcs?

[DoomtoNeoCons]

Quality? Can you honestly name any other show on television right now that puts as much storytelling energy into every penny spent other than Lost? And as far as believability, well, they SURVIVED a plane crash, in which the plane broke into THREE pieces in mid air! If you can make that leap of faith, then everything else should be seen as par for the course!

[Rip Empson - Huffpost Blogger]

Don't get me wrong. I love me some Lost. Favorite show on television, hands down. I think, for the most part, you're right. There are few long-running, major network dramas that remain consistently innovative, interesting, and fun to watch. The Sopranos, Mad Men, The Wire, Rome, Deadwood qualify, IMO. All pretty good writing. But there aren't a lot. In terms of believability, haha, the premise of the show is built on the survival of a pretty brutal plane crash. And that sets the bar high for the unbelievable to happen, and if you don't buy the premise, then you shouldn't watch the show. And for the writers, they have no choice but to escalate to keep you interested -- so when you start from a plane crash it's no wonder that by the 5th season they're detaching us from the space time continuum. But for me there's a difference between crash-survival and black-death-clouds and moving islands and space-time elasticity. I can tell you we're all gonna be disappointed by how this ends.

[viewfromuphere]

It's fiction...­.how believable is any of it....thos­e lovable Soprano mobsters, a doctor like House keeping his job for more than fives minutes, those CSI guys getting those DNA results like "right now"....

The believable is on PBS....and they are called documentaries.

[jalyn]

I find the Kate character gives me headaches. Maybe the "runaway" tag has been played too much with her. I can't get into her head, and understand what she wants out of life and why she runs away from hurdles at the drop of a hat.......­.seems like a lost soul. And, of course, Miles is probably the cute baby son shown in Wednesday's premiere, of Dr. Waxdrip, or whatever.

[fentiger89]

*smacks head about Miles* - should have figured that one out myself - good catch.

[MontereyDean]

Well, I'm definitely in the minority. To me, it was as if they'd taken scenes from a dozen different action movies and spliced them together randomly. I've watched Lost from the beginning, but last night, at every commercial, I'd flip channels trying to find something, anything interesting to change to. TV being what it is today, I did manage to get through both hours.

[Isabel Topps]

I love Lost. I don't care if some episodes are considered bad. I have enjoyed every one, even the two spider bite victims, whatever their names were!
When your choice of television programming is a reality show, then another reality show, some more crap with Bret Michaels, Flavour Flav, Desperate Housewives of someplace, some Bachelor crap, really can anyone honestly say that any episode of Lost is bad?

The writing is fantastic, it makes you think, it entertains and the acting is superb. I don't know what I will do when this series is over because television is saturated with reality shows and I think it is just getting worse.

[jalyn]

The suggestion of Daniel to Desmond that Desmond is miraculously pre-destined to save the island survivors is a turn of events. We always supposed it was either John L or Jack Shepherd.

Am struck by how the writers can tell a story and knit all 3 timelines, past, present, and future, so well without losing us, pardon the pun.

[dontpanic1]

I loved it! It kinda answered some questions and raise more... My favorite season is 2 because we meet Desmond - my (secret) second husband. I'm glad to see him return (sorry Penn)