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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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