Episode Reviews

This was a very exciting episode. It had so many of the classic Lost elements: Locke on a journey towards destiny, Sayid taking things into his own hands, bad guys doing bad things, Ben being creepy, Hurley with all the good lines! Not a lot of romance but they gave us a double dose of that last week, so we were all set in that department. As always they gave us a few answers and a whole lot of new questions. Many people felt that the show was choppy. It is very obvious that these post-strike episodes are making up for lost time by packing a lot of action and information into a what little time they have remaining. I am okay with this. I have been frustrated by enough episodes that seemed to drag on and on that I will now take a condensed, choppy version and I will savor every fast-paced moment of it.

More of my thoughts on this episode after the jump.

Season 4 part 2, started off with a bang, both literally and figuratively. 4x09 "The Shape Of Things To Come" got the viewers right back into the action, gave us some answers and many more questions. Lost came out of the gates with both guns blasting and a freiight train named Smokie. The SWLS users really liked this episode. An 8.4 overall rating shows a strong positive reaction to this episode. 84% of the voters gave it an 8 or higher. A user did give it a 1, but did not post a reason for that low score. Otherwise it was 6 or higher. SWLS members are very hard graders and compare Lost against it self not other shows. Many have stated that they are holding onto a 10 for the best episode ever. So an 8.4 average is a strong rating.

Last week's episode of lost, Ji Yeon, had us following Sun and Jin in an interesting flash-forward/ flash-back combination episode. We watched as Sun, screaming for Jin "Michael Style" had her baby in an obvious flash-forward as Jin ran around the city buying panda bears, breaking his cell phone, and threatening to kill cab stealers. To put it simply, while watching this episode live I was underwhelming with the plot and soap opera-ish style that never really got me excited for the whole hour. However, in hindsight I think that episode wasn't as terrible as I felt it was while watching it. For Ji Yeon, the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

I am pretty certain that I have made mention of the fact a number of times that I love this show. I buy into it hook, line and sinker. I don't think I've ever rated an episode any lower than a 6 or 7, and this episode is no different. I've been poking around the internets looking at reviews and of course reading the opinions and thoughts of our esteemed users here at Sledgeweb, and from what I can tell, the viewers of "The Other Woman" give it a resounding "meh."  The majority of us were not blown away by this particular installment. I enjoyed it; it was an episode of Lost, after all. It wasn't my least favorite episode of the season, but it wasn't my favorite either. More of my thoughts on this episode after the jump.

If you're like me, as you prepare for tonight's installment of LOST on ABC, you're thinking back to last week's offering, "The Constant", and finding yourself still puzzling over the ramifications of that show, and how it may or may not impact the rest of the season, and future seasons of LOST. Time Travel has been a small theme in the multitude of themes in LOST since Desmond blew himself through time after turning the failsafe key in the hatch. At that time, the rules of "time travel" were loosely explained to Desmond (and us) by an enigmatic elderly shopkeep. The main rule basically being that the future cannot be significantly altered. Some sort of cosmic-will would "course correct" and make sure whatever was supposed to happen, would happen. Thus, despite Desmond's ability to foresee Charlie's multiple deaths, he was forced to give into the laws of infinity and explain to Charlie, "Your gonna die". This steadfast rule, however, seemed to be broken, or at least stretched to the limits, in "The Constant". Love it, or hate it, LOST took a Quantum Leap last week.

Last week's Sayid-centric episode, "The Economist" had quite a few nice twists and turns. The opening scene on the golf course, the Hurley-as-bait move and Elsa's romance scam switcheroo were all classic Lost to me.  By that I mean I practically jumped out of my seat from the unexpectedness of those scenes. All in all I thought it was great, with one minor exception. I could personally have done without some of the flash-forwards. I mean, I got it; they needed to show the time Sayid and Elsa were spending together and how there were feelings developing, or at least the appearance of them. I will admit that until he pulled the trigger I believed Sayid had fallen in love and would be unable to kill her. I was glad I was wrong. No, my main objection was all the kissing scenes. It was bringing back bad flashbacks of the Shannon relationship. Every time they started smooching I would begin yelling to my TV, "Get on with it! We have questions that need answering!"

I personally gave this episode a 9. I don't know if it's because I view every episode through rose-colored glasses, I just enjoy every new little bit of Lost that I can get even if I don't like (mushy) parts of it. Almost 80% of the users who voted in our poll gave this episode an 8 or above.  However, in our new Segment Episode Ratings it was evident that members of SWLS found the middle part of the episode less than stellar. As for the rest of the country, Lost placed 4th overall in the weeks Nielsen Ratings. On the one hand, that was better than it's season average, which is 9th. On the other hand, while I can understand that no show can compete with the juggernaut of the two American Idol shows, to come in just after The Moment of Truth? That hurts.

As The Beginning of the End started tonight I found myself literally sitting on the edge of my seat as I watch Hurley's old camero race from the police, crashing through this and that at every turn.  Knowing that this could be either a flash-forward or a flashback, I decided to start searching for the clues early.  I absolutely love the fact that we will now be guessing at each turn whether we are watching future or past events on Lost.  But there was no need to wonder in this first episode of season 4.  As Hurley quickly exclaims, "Don't you know who I am, I'm one of the Oceanic 6!"  Fade to black, on the screen and in my mind, as a chill ran up my back.  What did he say?  The realization that Hurley's words could only mean one thing began to sink in instantly...only 6 of our castaways will be leaving this island.  So do the others die?  Do they choose to stay on the island?  Are the forced to stay on the island?  We're barely 4 minutes into the season premiere and I already have more questions than answers!  By the end of this fantastic season 4 opener I can do nothing but sit, still on the edge of my chair, with my mouth open.  The final realization in this episode that the "Oceanic 6" left the others behind on the island, and lied about it all upon returning is something that I honestly didn't expect.  Below are my other comments and reactions on the start of season 4.