So, we now know the name of the man who paraded around as Henry Gale. He’s Ben. And apparently he doesn’t like Stephen King.
The Lost season premiere begins with a book club, making you think it is someone’s flashback. But since we don’t recognize any Flight 815 survivors, you can only assume it is a flashback of one of The Others. Before an argument over the choice of book, a Stephen King novel, can break out, an earthquake shakes the house, stopping Juliet in mid-rant. As soon as the tremors cease, they run outside.
There, we discover it isn’t a flashback, but rather where The Others live. We see Ethan crawl out from under a home and Ben (The Other formerly known as Henry Gale) run out of another house. It’s a cute looking neighborhood and could be any suburb in America. That’s when we realize the show is backtracking to the day of the plane crash as we see a plane breaking apart in the sky. Ben demands Ethan and Goodwin investigate the crash and pretend to be survivors so they can return with lists in three days. Something about seeing their clearing in the middle of the island makes the whole island look so much larger than it has the past two seasons.
Jack wakes up in a sort of observation room with a glass wall. After yelling for Kate and trying to escape, Juliet appears and introduces herself. Telling him he is stubborn, Juliet comes off as patronizing, but I quite enjoy that as I’ve never liked Jack — he is too whiney and holier than thou for my tastes.
Interspersed throughout this episode of Lost are flashbacks of Jack’s life from when his wife wanted a divorce and he discovered she had a new man. He, quite understandably, was going pretty crazy and was desperately trying to figure out who was replacing him. While not the most compelling flashback, it did cut nicely with what was going on present day on the island.
Juliet tries to bring Jack some food; but he has other ideas, tackling her and trying to escape. A rather soggy attempt, Jack soon realizes he’s being held in a Dharma hatch underwater — an aquarium of sorts — called The Hydra. Jack questions Juliet about The Others being what is left of Dharma, to which Juliet simply says it was a long time ago. But, she does have a lot of information about Jack that is rather suspicious. The Others obviously have easy contact with the outside world so I doubt the rumors about the island being invisible to those not on the island is accurate.
Article comments
1 - -E
Ack, and where are all the children they supposedly stole? Or is there another group of folks on the island that are the ones we saw quietly slinking around with that creepy teddy bear?
2 - Phillip Winn
That underwater hatch door bugged me. Realistically, it should have killed Jack. Ben wasn't wrong when he said they would all die if he opened that door, emergency button to drain things or no. Not a chance in the world that they would have been able to close the door against the positive pressure of all that water if they were really underwater. And if they weren't, why did Ben run away and leave Juliet to face it alone -- as if we was scared for his life?
Still, amazing episode. Mystery on top of mystery!
3 - -E
Maybe they aren't fully submerged but just slightly so? Plus, if it went to underwater, don't you think more than just twisting the wheel would be required to open it?
4 - YoungZeb
I was disappointed in the season premier. Too many cliffhanger moments of last season's finale to make me want to watch the "just Jack" show...
It seemed like this episode should have been number two in the season slot, not the premier... Not impressed ABC...
5 - -E
Heh, I just don't really care for Jack. I also know as one of the main guys it is unrealistic for me to hope he will be killed off.
6 - Supremus
Did anyone notice that the speakerphone/ radio in jack's cell has his father's voice telling him "Let it go Jack" - it was very momentarily, but was audible.
A very wierd premiere - but still better than almost any trash that is dishing out - the season should be interesting!
S
7 - Michael J. West
Another "Did anyone notice" moment:
Remember back when Sayid and Hurley were fixing the emergency radio from the airplane, and they ended up finally tuning in a radio station from who-knows-where-or-when? The station was playing "String of Pearls" by Glenn Miller--the same song that was playing in Jack's car during his first flashback this season.
Reeeeeeeeeeally thin connection, I know, but this is Lost we're talking about...
8 - Mat Brewster
I was a little let down that we didn't see everyone else (I mean we still don't know if they guys survived the explosion from the finale last season) but the teaser for next weeks seems to indicate we'll get a lot more of them.
Only six more days!
9 - -E
Mat, is it a sign of our complete obsession with a tv show if we count down how many days until the next episode?
10 - Scott
"I also wonder what they injected into Sawyer, Kate, and Jack."
Hold up a second. They never explicitly showed Sawyer removing a bandage from his arm as they did with Jack and Kate. I was thinking maybe the "others" had injected only Jack and Kate with some sort of serum but were saving Sawyer for something else where he doesn't need the same injections.
Any ideas? Am I wrong?
11 - Mat Brewster
-E, I think it does. Before yesterday's episode I was counting down the hours. I drove my wife nuts.
Kate and Jack were both pampered in some ways. Kate got the shower and beach breakfast. Jack was brought food and dealt with kindly.
Sawyer however was always in a cage, had to figure out how to get crappy animal food by himself, and I'm not convinced that the whole escape plan wasn't another set up in the first place. So yeah, I'd say Sawyer is meant for something else.
12 - TomW
Did anyone else see someone who looked like Locke in the scene where Henry Gale sent people to be survivors of the plane crash? It looked like Locke with black hair. If so, how would they explain Locke's flashbacks last season to his job and his father? It reruns this week sometime and I am going to stop frame that scene and see who it is that they sent to be infiltrators.
13 - -E
I didn't see Locke's look alike, but I doubt it is Locke.
14 - Scott
You can watch the entire episode (with limited commercials, mind you) at ABC.com. I rewatched it yesterday.
15 - -E
So Scott, did you see anyone looking like Locke?
16 - TomW
-E:
I watched the video on ABC.Com and saw what I saw before. It is a character named Ethan who does look like Locke but younger. He is one of them sent to act as a survivor but I cannot remember if that character was in the last season. Anyone remember a survivor named Ethan? Someone told me that they thought he was someone that Jack's group chased away or who ran into the jungle when confronted.
17 - -E
Yeah, Ethan was sent to pretend to be a survivor but the Losties pretty much figured it out. I think they just happen to look similar. With as many characters as they have on the show there are bound to be similarities between them.
18 - Triniman
I'm not sure I bought the whole neighborhood on the island thing. The island must be sn awfully big for that place to go unnoticed by the survivors. Other than that, I think Lost will continue to pick up viewers and fans.
19 - Donnie Marler
Slightly off topic. The mother and sister of the script supervisor of 'Lost' live less than ten miles from me!
No, they don't know anything. lol
20 - -E
The shot of the island showing the clearing did dwarf the neighborhood and make the island look huge, which of course makes it seem kinda odd that no one can find them and it isn't more, well, traveled.
However, I'm pretty sure it is beyond where they are allowed to cross on the island, thus not discovered by the Losties.
21 - -E
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