Lost: S4 Review, Episodes 5 and 6 - a podcast by John Pavlich

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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.

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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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