8...not as good as last week's solid 10 eppy, but still packed a helluva punch. I could see the ending coming from a mile away, though. I've never trusted Ben.
My favorite parts:
- The mango
- Sayid and Locke. I loved Sayid flipping back to the gentle Sayid we knew from before, doing community service work, building schools, trying to get Locke to come and do some good. Aww, it was sweet. His whole speech about Nadia was great, because we never really got to hear about him being happy or coming to peace with his time with her.
- The creepy camera set up in the middle of nowhere Tunisia, and the great shot where they went from the night sky down on Locke still out there.
- I loved that crazy scene where they were pumping Locke with pills...what was that about? It seemed something more sinister was going on than just fixing his leg. I was trying to look around, some faces seemed familiar.
- Widmore. All these creepy old men fighting over Locke like dogs over bones.
- Jack and Locke. I almost cried when druggy, drunkard Jack launched into him. I love scenes where a character shoots to wound and also is talking about themselves.
- Walt and Locke...good times. Walt is having visions of the island...in the past? Future? Great kid...Locke made a mistake not talking with him and trying to protect him. Walt's important.
- The scene with Ben and Locke. I agree, it was the scariest thing ever, but very powerful and well acted. Both of them are absolutely crazy. I really was convinced after awhile that despite the fact he was doing it for his own agenda, Ben was really saving Locke...and then when he turned around and strangled him!
I hope Walt comes back for a major part of the story. It seems he really is still being set up as special, which is reassuring since we have seen so little of him. He is the right age, considering it is supposed to be over three years since we last saw him. It makes sense that he would have hit his growth spurt. Little shoutout when Abaddon noted his growth spurt, too.
I wasn't expecting Abaddon to die, and I was also surprised Helen came back up...anyone else think that she was purposefully killed so John wouldn't have anyone and would have to go back to the island?
Edit to add: I forgot to add that Ben crying over Locke was really weird and sad, in a way. I wonder if Locke wouldn't have come back if he had committed suicide, but still needed to die?
I could see the ending coming from a mile away, though. I've never trusted Ben.
I know, though it still had me on pins and needles, like horror flick when you're just waiting for the killer to jump out of the woods - you know it's coming, but it shocks you anyway.
Finally, season 5 delivers! Six disappointing episodes, but this one was totally worth it. Hope each next one gets better and better. Hope they can keep it up.
What, are you kidding me???? 10!!! One of the best ever. Absolutely amazing.
We finally get to see Widmore fleshed out a bit, and shown in a positive light. I am way more willing to accept him as a good guy than Ben. I still haven't seen any direct evidence that he ordered everyone on the island killed, and other than that (and being a jerk to Desmond), there's no reason to think he's bad. Ultimately, Widmore and Ben maybe just two of a kind, in a power struggle, neither worse than the other. But so far, I'd trust Widmore a lot further than Ben, any day.
Amazing job by Terry O'Quinn. Just amazing.
The crashed plane -- FANTASTIC! Did they acquire another real plane for that? Sure didn't look like CGI.
The suicide/homocide switcheroo -- absolutely inspired! This is the creepiest we've seen Ben yet, and that's saying something. It forces me to rethink the theory that he's on a path to redemption.
Ultimately, Widmore and Ben maybe just two of a kind, in a power struggle, neither worse than the other. But so far, I'd trust Widmore a lot further than Ben, any day.
I wouldn't trust either of them as far as I can throw them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pythagoras99
Amazing job by Terry O'Quinn. Just amazing.
He always brings it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pythagoras99
The suicide/homocide switcheroo -- absolutely inspired! This is the creepiest we've seen Ben yet, and that's saying something. It forces me to rethink the theory that he's on a path to redemption.
He cried afterwards. I think Ben has convinced himself he has to do bad things for good things to happen. I'm wondering why--was he protecting John from Hawking, or was he trying to save John's soul (does he believe suicide is a sin but that John still needed to die "for the greater good")?
If this episode doesn't get Terry another Emmy, something is WRONG!!!!!
Mathew was outstanding as well!
Not sure if I trust Widmore at this point - but I'm finally sure of one thing...
I WILL NEVER BELIEVE WORD ONE FROM BEN AGAIN!!!!!!!!
...At last, I'm learning...there's no returning, once I start.
To live's a privilege - and to love is such an art...
but I'll need your help to start...oh please purify my heart...
I am your servant.
Larry Norman
A.C.T.S. #1
Book Nook cafe' #27
Council of Elders # 18
G>L>O>W> # ?
The Leaky Cauldron #70 - Gryffindor - Mr Olivander
I gave the ep an 8, though I must say I'm pretty conflicted about the ep. I would say that this ep had an EXTREMELY high level of difficulty (having only an hour to condense all of Locke's interactions with the O6). So I give them props for trying, but that said, the more I think about the ep, the more I think they could have done it better, and more consistently (especially with this being a Darlton/Bender double-team effort, which usually tend to be among the best).
The good:
* Widmore -- loved those scenes, and loved the ambiguity being imbued in his character. I think neither he nor Ben are genuine, but I like where this is headed: war coming, possibly Ben vs. Widmore, with each gathering an army (I can see it now: Widmore and Locke vs. Ben and Jack)
* Some truly touching Locke moments (kudos to Terry O'Quinn for once again showing his astounding range and skill)
Not so good:
* Pointless visits to people like Walt, Sayid and Hurley: while I loved the Walt scene (memories of their friendship from Season 1), it was pointless, and Locke's persuasive abilities with the rest of the O6 boiled down to something like:
"You need to go back to the island to save everyone"
"No"
"Ok"
Great job, Locke -- he has always been a very ardent believer, but always a terrible leader: his persuasion skills are zero (and have been throughout most of the series: "do it because I say so and because it's what we have to do". Really? Why?)
* Locke's road to suicide: I didn't buy this at all, way too sudden. He gave up so easily, and while they should have built his suicide as being more of a strategic move to convince the O6 to come back, instead, he was only motivated by having lost Helen and failed (after not much of an attempt), to bring back the O6.
* Jack's sudden change: again, this happened WAY too quickly -- it took a few minutes with Locke and word that he had seen his father (which, btw, Jack has ALSO done before) to convince him to take flights to try and re-crash on the island. So, how exactly does the haunting of Jack by dad equate to: let's go back to the island to save everyone? I just don't get that transition.
* Inconsistencies: in the S4 finale, Sayid and the others reacted very negatively toward the memory of JB and his visits to them. I don’t know if a five minute talk that wasn’t particularly haunting or damaging to someone like Sayid would have really affected him that much.
* Ben: I knew he would wind up killing Locke way back last week, as soon as he said he had gone to visit Locke. While I like the tension between them, I know Ben is going to throw out some line about how he “killed” Locke for the greater good, blah blah blah. Ben’s becoming a little tedious with his attempts to justify his bad behavior
To solve all of these issues, and to be more consistent with previous eps, I would have actually focused most of the ep on Locke only visiting Jack, starting to lay the seeds of doubt, and then coming out with a line predicting his possible death, which would then suitably haunt Jack as much as it does in TTLG. After all, in the FF’s of S4, it was mainly Jack who tried to convince everyone else to go back – no one else was really affected.
As I said, it was a difficult ep to pull off, but then again, so was The Constant, and that was brilliant.
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