LOST DISCOVERIES

 

LOST:

PILOT, PART 2

Created by: J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof

Story by: J.J. Abrams

 

Air date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004

 

A Day At The Beach

By Vlad

 

A Soulful Spike Society Review

www.soulfulspike.com

 

 

Welcome back to paradise.

 

Okay, let’s start this off with the fact that last week I wished for more action and some more answers, and, boy , did I get some…all the while deepening the mystery. For those television critics that saw the whole 2-hour premiere uninterrupted (by either long breaks or way too many commercials,) I now understand why you had high hopes for this program. My biggest problem with this whole episode were the commercial breaks and the fact my finger kept twitching on the remote control to fast-forward past them during it’s live broadcast. That’s one of those frustrating “good” signs.

 

We start right where we left off last week, with Kate, Jack and Charley making their way out of the jungle back to the beach. There is a small discussion where Kate asked Charley what he had been doing in the wreck’s bathroom. Charley replies that he had been throwing up, sickened by all the carnage. Then he does some self-depreciating humor, where he calls himself a coward. Kate rejects this, telling him that he’s not. This sets off the first flashback of the evening: Charley’s perspective of the crash.

 

The Ups and Downs, Highs and Lows of “Charley the Coward”

Charley is not a coward; Charley is a drug addict. We find out that, indeed, the airplane staff was chasing him to the toilet, pretty much because of his wired nervousness prior to getting up and rushing for the front of the plane. Charley makes it to the lavatory ahead of his pursuers and managed to get a little oral fix of what appears to be an opiate. Just as he drops the baggie he had hidden in his shoe down the air flush toilet, the plane gets hit by a walloping bit of turbulence. The crew immediately rushes off to tend to worse problems and Charlie must fight his way back to his seat, where he straps in and gets his oxygen mask on.

 

This explains much: Charley’s dazed look during the first few minutes of the crash site and his desire to go off into the hostile bush with Jack and Kate. It explains his sweaty and anxious looks before The Monster shows up. He wanted his stash. He needed his stash. And, indeed, a few minutes later, once they are back to the safety of the beach we see Charley go off in private and dose himself.

 

Now, obviously this could be a problem. Charley doesn’t have a lot of his drug on hand. I would guess that baggie has enough to last him a week at most, especially at the rate he is using it. And then we are talking some pretty mean withdrawal, the real physical kind. It’s so strong that people have even died due to withdrawal from opiates.

 

Less you think Charley is all bad, during this half of the episode, when Kate announces yet another trek into the wilds, Charley evidently volunteers, or at least comes willingly. This time he has no ulterior motive aside from helping out. It seems that perhaps Kate’s kind words to him earlier have struck a chord. Indeed, as they head off into the forest, he comments to Shannon (who has joined for her own reasons) after a bit of a rough exchange between the two ladies, that Kate is “actually really nice.” Seems like Charley may indeed be a decent, if troubled, person also.

 

The Korean Bastard and his (MUCH) Better Half

We finally get to meet Jin and Sun. Jin is poking about in the water amid the rocks on the shoreline, collecting what appear to be some sort of sea urchins. It is at this point that Michael, father of Walt appears, searching for his son. When he goes to question Sun, Jin interferes, apparently telling her to cover herself, as she scandalously has a single button on her top undone showing about 2 inches of where her neck and chest meet. She hurries to do so and Michael, seeing the oppressive nature, quickly moves along.

 

A short while later, this scene is contrasted by a scene where Kate is bathing in the rolling surf, uncaring and unnoticing of any onlookers. She strips down to a pair of panties and her bra which, while revealing, is nothing worse than what one would see on any beach in any Western-cultured country. During this scene Sun gets Kate’s attention and gestures that she is wanted near the crash site. We momentarily get a scene of Sun watching the undressed Kate contemplatively as she leaves her bath.

 

Later, while Jin is preparing the fish by slicing it, when she tries to help, he rudely shoves her away, and then takes the tray off on what one can only assume is a mission of some sort of bizarre hospitality to the other survivors. As he brushes huffily past Sun, we see Sun follow him with her eyes down the beach, and then with a very quiet look of determination and resolve, unbutton the blouse he had ordered her minutes earlier to close. It seems as if the very thing that Jin is afraid of happening is: he is losing control of Sun.

 

The Unbearable Adventures of Sayid and Sawyer

Upon return to the camp by Kate, Jack and Charley, from their semi-successful search for the rest of the jet and the radio, they walk into a camp that is torn apart by a huge brawl going on between Sawyer and Sayid. Jack quickly breaks it up and finds out it is because he claims Sayid is suspicious and had been detained before boarding the plane in Australia. Most of his accusations have no proof or merit and Kate interrupts and defuses the situation by saying they have found the transmitter and asks if anyone can possibly fix it. Sayid quickly steps forward, saying that he possibly can. Needless to say, Sawyer is outraged, but storms off, deferring to Jack, calling the doctor somewhat sneeringly a “hero.”

 

Later on, when Kate forms her party in search of higher ground for a chance at transmitting, they pass Sawyer, who is sitting amid the wreckage reading a handwritten letter. He has an expression on his face of sadness and hurt at what he is reading. Immediately after this, he catches up to the search party. When asked about his change of heart by Kate, he dismisses her with a curt and quippy,”I’m a complex guy, sweetheart.”

 

As they travel, Sawyer attempts to gain control of the party, telling Sayid that it’s a good time to test the radio even though Sayid insists that it would only drain the battery and they need higher ground still.

 

Finally, as they are crossing a meadow, something large erupts from the brush, charging the party. As the others run, fleeing their unknown enemy, Sawyer calmly stands his ground, pulls a pistol from nowhere and fires a full 10 shots into the oncoming beast, dropping it mere feet away. The rest of the search party returns and is amazed to find Sawyer had just shot a polar bear. Kate quickly comes to her senses and asks where Sawyer got the gun. He insists that he found it on the body of a Marshall and even shows the Marshall’s badge as proof. While involved in yet another spat between Sayid and Sawyer over how Sawyer is the prisoner escaped, Kate manages to snatch the gun from Sawyer, holding it on him until she unloads it. Once done, she gives the ammo to Sayid and the gun back to Sawyer. While a rather brilliant maneuver in splitting the dangerous item into two parts and handing it to the only two people almost “guaranteed” not to sweet talk the other out of their half, I wonder if she still didn’t make a mistake. She should have given the gun to Sayid and the ammo to Sawyer, because many people frequently carry a second clip in their holster for their weapon. She may have just rearmed Sawyer.

 

Before they move on, Sawyer makes a comment about how they all have a part to play, he of the criminal, Sayid of the terrorist… and he is both half right and half wrong. Every survivor does have a role to play. They each have talents that can possibly help keep them all alive. Sawyer himself, is apparently a man of action and very brave. Those talents may be very important not just with the bear, but later on in the days to come.

 

Mike and Walt: A Comic of Trial and Error

After Mike had spoken to Sun and Jin, he goes off in further search of his wayward son. He eventually finds him close by, just off the beach in the jungle. It seems Walt was searching for his dog, Vincent. After scolding him and forbidding him to wander around away from the beach, he notices what Walt had found moments before his arrival: a pair of shiny handcuffs. Spooked by this, he and his son quickly return to the beach.

 

Later he finds his son reading a comic book. Noticing it is in Spanish, he asks his son about it and is told that the boy found it in the wreckage. We quickly move onto yet another discussion between the two, and the father, obviously trying to make the boy feel better, tells him that he will replace the dog when they are rescued. Unfortunately this does not have the desired effect upon the boy and he rushes off down the beach, to be anywhere other than where his father is.

While a touching scene, it, at first, appears as of no great importance. But your reviewer discovered something upon a second viewing that may be of great, great interest : stills of two pages from this Spanish comic the boy was reading. I will show them here and you will see why.

 

 

Yes! In the top picture you indeed see a polar bear attacking. Now, just what are the coincidences of a Spanish comic book aboard that jet (if, indeed, that’s where it came from) and a polar bear attacking our group of survivors later the very same day on a tropical island? Unfortunately the text and the victims of the Bear’s attack are impossible to read or see. However, you can see a green boot in the snow that may belong to the caped superhero figure in the bottom picture.

 

The bottom picture is another story. While it’s fuzzy and I am unable to make all the text out, I translated what I could see from the original Spanish:

 

 

The Orange Lightening Bolt Man:

 

First balloon

?illegible? son ahora tus planes

(?illegible? they are now your plans)

 

Second balloon

que te afecta decirnoslo de todos ?illegible? somos tus ?titeres?

(that it affects to say to us it to you of all ?illegible? We are your ?titeres?)

 

The Green Cape Man:

 

First balloon:

Entendernos como te sientes lo que ?hacimos? hace medio ?sielo? estuvo mal y lo que te ?hiceron? desde entonces esta mas ?alle? de ?illegible? clase de perdon.

(To understand to us eats you feel what ?hacimos? ?sielo? makes means was bad and what they ?hiceron? to you from then this but ?alle? of ?illegible? class of pardon.)

 

Second balloon:

Pero si alguien ?illegible? ha de pagar ?illegible? eso

(But if somebody ?illegible? it has to pay ?illegible? that)

 

The Mysterious Knobby Headed Figure:

 

First ballon:

mi plan es morir

(my plan is to die)

 

Second balloon:

Por culpa de Gunther y de ustedes. ?Estor? placido de enfermedades pero ?compartire? de dolor

(Because of Gunther and of you. ?Estor? pleased of diseases but ?compartire? of pain)

 

Interesting, no? Unfortunately I couldn’t make out all the text. But I truly feel this could be important somehow…a clue. The fact that the bear is there.. and then these superheroes (or villains?) are talking in what looks like and underground lab or hanger.

 

As a general cry for help, I do have larger versions of the pictures with which I worked. I would willingly email them to someone that is fluent enough in Spanish that they may be able to work out the missing words from the context and do a proper job with the grammar.

 

Oh, about Michael, Walt and the dog: later on Michael discovers from Jack that the dog is still alive and apparently unharmed.

 
Shannon and Boone: It’s All Relative

Early on in the episode, we find Shannon lying out in an orange bikini, sun tanning while everyone else is busy working sorting out supplies and clothes. Boone asks her if she will join them and she dismisses him, saying it’s all foolish and that they will be rescued.. Sitting nearby is Claire, the pregnant girl. Claire inquires if Boone is Shannon’s boyfriend. She tells her no, that he is her brother. In a moment of uncharacteristic awareness of others, she asks Claire what she is having, to which Claire says she doesn’t know, then confesses that she hasn’t felt the baby move since the day before. This causes Claire to turn once again into herself.

 

Later on, we find Claire sitting , staring off into space, looking very troubled and crying. Her brother stops and inquires. She says that she was mean to the guy at the gate that wouldn’t allow them their first class seats. She realizes that it probably saved their lives. They have an argument that is hard to completely follow, because it seems rooted in a lot of prior-familial-problems type residue. She ends the argument by going with Kate and the “higher ground” search party. Boone follows along.

 

Just when you have decided Shannon may be of no real use ever, the gang manages to get the transceiver to function…sort of. Apparently there’s another signal being broadcast nearby which is overriding the signal of the radio. Facile Sayid manages to tune in the broadcast and we get a female voice in French. After a very annoying round robin of everyone talking at once, it becomes clear that Shannon can speak a little of the language. With the radio’s batteries dying, she translates for our party:

 

“Please help me. Please come get me. I am alone now. I am alone. Please someone come. The others are dead. It killed them; it killed them all.”

 

They realize that the message is on a loop. Then our science inclined Sayid announces that according to his calculations the message is 16 years and five months old by the number of cycles. The little group is beginning to realize that they are indeed not in Kansas anymore.

 

The Locke That Has the Secret Key

Our spooky, orange smiling man just keeps getting spookier. When Walt goes storming down the beach after his father’s ham- handed attempt at talking to him and offering some compassion, he stumbles onto Locke, sitting in the sand with a backgammon board. He approaches Locke, apparently curious about what the man is doing. Finally, we get to hear Locke speak. And he sounds normal, basic American. Yet, there is something about his talking. Calm, deliberate…everything he says is some kind of insight. After finding out that the boy’s mom died a few weeks ago and of course now with the plane crash, he says matter of factly “You are having a bad month. He proceeds to then begin talking about he game of backgammon. He tells him it is old, older than Christ. Walt seems to have some sort of connection with Locke and sits down to listen. Locke then holds up the pieces and tells him that it’s a game of two sides: one light and one dark. Then after a long pause, he asks Walt if he wants to know a secret.

 

Okay, this man is just sort of creepy. Yet, there’s something about him I sort of like. There is something hidden in there that I think will be very important to the group. There is something about his pointing out the obvious but making it meaningful that reminds me vaguely of the character Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

A Successful Operation: Jack and Hurley

It seems that our hero Jack has found himself a right-hand man in Hurley. Dependable to do what is asked of him, Hurley listens carefully and does his best to help Jack in whatever way he can. Early on in the episode, when Sawyer is maligning Sayid, he turns his wrath on Hurley, who dared to try to mediate. Jack immediately set in, defending the heavyset one. So, it’s only logical that when Jack decides to remove the shrapnel from what appears to be the worst wounded man living, he gets Hurley to help him. Of course, he does this since Kate is off traipsing around with a radio. It would be a sure bet he would have asked her first. But Hurley is definitely his second best choice.

 

Unfortunately, Hurley is not suited to this type of work. While Kate was able to obviously suture Jack up just fine, Hurley has this little problem with blood. Interestingly, with all the carnage that has occurred already and no signs of Hurley having fainted before, you would think that his phobia would be somewhat alleviated, at least for now. Perhaps it’s that he now feels safer. Regardless, when Jack actually removes the shrapnel from the unconscious man, he winds up having to deal with two patients as Hurley passes out on top of the guy. But, since it was Hurley’s main job to hold down the patient in case he should awaken from the pain, collapsing on top of him pretty much achieved the same effect. Good old reliable Hurley. Even in slumber he is there for you.

 

Jack really doesn’t do much this second episode. He breaks up a fight, he tells Kate to be careful, seemingly taking a real interest in her, he tells Michael about he dog and where to find him and he does surgery with a rag, some more vodka and a straight razor. I am really let down! Surely this superman could do more! Perhaps that back wound is getting to him after all.

 

The Life of Kate, Past, Present, and Future

If the first half of the pilot was about our Super Doc, Jack, then the second half was about the Amazing Kate. The woman has nerves of steel, great looks, and a brain. Notice when she decides that a mission to find higher ground is needed, she organizes it and tells Jack she is going rather than asking him. When he tells her no, she doesn’t even pay attention. When he asks her to wait for him, she doesn’t accept his plan. This is a woman in charge of her own destiny. And I would say that she is right. Unlike the first hair-brain plan that had the only doctor out trying to get himself eaten, Kate realizes that he is needed here, helping the wounded man. This is a decision that is even more illuminating about her character in light of knowledge to come.

 

Kate intelligently takes along Sayid to operate the radio. Charley at some point materializes and goes along also. Since she has seen him under fire, this is far from the worst choice of companions. Then the rag-tag team collects around her: Shannon and Boone and finally Sawyer. Unhappily, she allows them to go along, probably feeling that at least there is some security in numbers.

 

She manages her sloppy team well, not overly ordering, but clearly in charge. When the polar bear attacks, she wisely runs for it, everyone scattering. When they come back after Boone shot it, she is the first to realize and question where he got the gun. And, of course, she is the one to remove it from his possession. Her questioning was pointed, as if apparently trying to catch Sawyer in a lie. It was only after his comments about everyone having a role to play that we finally get Kate’s flashback.

 

Turns out our adventuress is none other than the escaped prisoner, herself! Sitting on the plane next to the Marshall, we find out that at least according to him, she is good at the art of deception. She looks beaten and worried sitting in that jet seat, chained to the arm. Yet, when the plane starts to go down and the Marshall gets knocked unconscious, she takes charge. Fishing the keys out, she unlocks herself and then places an air mask on her captor first, before putting one on herself. Whatever this woman is, she isn’t a cold-blooded killer. The scene then shows that she and her guard barely made it as the plane is ripped apart mere rows behind her.

 

After her little flashback, she pulls herself together and leads the team to the clearing where they make their discovery of the repeated message. They have more answers, but as usual it only raises even more questions. And little does she know the questions that she will be answering when she gets back to camp. Because, the man that Jack is working on is the Marshall, and he is now conscious and the first words out of his mouth are “Where is she?” Our poor Kate looks like she is going to need all the resourcefulness she can muster.

 

What Worked?

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Didn’t?

 

 

 

 

Questions

·         What is up with the color orange in this pilot? Kate wears an orange t-shirt, Shannon wears an orange bathing suit. Locke startles Kate in the first half with an orange peel smile. The two superheroes/villains in the comic both have orange in their costumes. The dog’s leash is orange. The sushi that Jin prepares is orange. I know there are other instances I am not recalling. This cannot be a coincidence.

 

 

 

 

The Missing: Update

 

Jack – Matthew Fox

We still don’t really know anymore about our mysterious man of action, Jack. So far, other than the questionable judgment call of exploring the dangerous island for the nose of the aircraft while being the only doctor with injured people to tend, he has pretty much aced everything in his decisions. This guy is just too good to be true.

 

 

Kate – Evangeline Lilly

Okay, Kate’s a definitely take charge kinda gal. Not only does she mount up an expedition to go use the transceiver, she manages a very hostile situation with a fair amount of grace and decisiveness. Without her, Operation Higher Ground may have crash-landed as well. Of course the big story here is that she is the escaped prisoner that was formerly bound by the handcuffs Walt found. How long ‘til that story comes out? And just why was she a prisoner?

 

Charlie – Dominic Monaghan

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. He has a big ol’ monkey on his back. That baggie looks to be some form of opiate, most likely heroine. And from the amount he is using at a pop, it’s not gonna last long. Then we will see a really sick, sweaty Charlie. I also suspect that he will end up donating what’s left the drugs to help one of the injured.

 

Hurley – Jorge Garcia

All right, who doesn’t like this guy? Well, except possibly Jin. A word of advice Hurley, when a small oriental man offers you food, be polite and take a nibble. It won’t kill you…we think. Unless said small oriental man is trying to eliminate his competition for survival.

 

Claire – Emilie de Ravin

All right! The baby is moving and hopefully is fine. And my guess is that it will be delivered somewhere around fall sweeps. We’ll see. She thinks it’s a boy. Who will she name it after? Jack or Hurley?

 

Boone – Ian Somerhalder

and

Shannon – Maggie Grace

Okay, lifeguard boy seems decidedly less ditsy. He must have just been dazed by the crash. And also more good news: the blonde dimwit bitca isn’t his girlfriend, but his sister. Aside from the fact she can understand some French, she is still the most useless of them yet. I still would vote her off the island first. From their arguments about how Shannon likes to get the family in an uproar and the fact they should have been in first class, I think these two might just be the “Howells” of our little three-hour tour.

 

Sayid – Naveen Andrews

So, Sayid was a communications officer in the Gulf War… for Iraq! Not just any old regiment either, but the vaunted Republican Guard. And, according to Sawyer, he was detained for a while at the airport. Who cares? He could be the love child of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein; the man is still one of your best chances for getting off this rock in the Pacific. He seems as eager to help as anyone and has a lot of skills to provide. And intelligence. And prudence. He and Jack are an unstoppable team.

 

Michael – Harold Perineau

and

Walt – Malcom David Kelley

Mom is dead, and the boy doesn’t know his father. The father, Michael, seems to be trying but unskilled…and he isn’t dealing with the situation in the best of circumstances. I give him a tentative passing grade so far. The son, Walt…okay let me just say it upfront: There is something I don’t like about this kid. I understand now some of the things he is dealing with, but I still don’t care for him. Hard to explain and most likely a personal bias. I do hope he finds his dog, Vincent.

 

Sawyer – Josh Holloway

He is still smoking. I wonder how many of those things he has stashed away. Eventually he might wind up as cranky as Charley is going to be. Maybe they will start a support group. The big news is that even though he is quick to action and opinionated as hell, he has the cajones to stand face to face with a charging polar bear and drop it in it’s tracks with a handgun. And just what was in that letter he was reading before he decided to tag along on Operation: Higher Ground? I think our man Sawyer here might turn out to be a good guy once he sees the light. He’s complex (and I think still armed.)

 

 

Locke – Terry O’Quinn

This is a very, very spooky man. We don’t know anymore about him than we did before. Except that he can talk…spookily. His interaction with Walt, however, never made me scared for Walt’s safety. Whatever this mans issues are, kids are not one of them.

 

Jin – Daniel Dae Kim

and

Sun – Yunjin Kim

Jin is a bastard. We don’t need a common language to know that. In fact, I may change my vote right here and vote him off the island before Shannon. So he can make sushi? From the interaction I saw, I bet Sun can do every bit as well. That’s right baby, you go ahead and unbutton that collar. In fact, take off the wedding ring and go shack up with one of the real men. Or by yourself.

 

The Pilot – Greg Grunberg

Still dead.

 

The Dog

Vincent! How long before you find Timmy... errr… Walt and show him where the cougar is that has some yet undiscovered survivor trapped down the mineshaft? I still say this canine is gonna be standing alone on that beach when the helicopters land.


______________________________________________


Please join in the discussion of this review at the Soulful Spike Society Message Board. Go there NOW!

If you enjoyed this review and are reading it from outside the Soulful Spike Society website (www.soulfulspike.com), then click the logo below to access the S3 in a new window. There you will find more great reviews, analyses, fanfiction and a link to our marvelous message board.