"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.23-1.25) "Exodus"

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.23-1.25) "Exodus"

If one was to ask me what was my favorite season finale of "LOST", I would be prone to answer Season Three's (3.22-3.23) "Through the Looking Glass". But my second choice - and a very close one at that - would have definitely been the Season One finale, (1.23-1.25) "Exodus". 

Although I do not consider it to be my favorite "LOST" finale, I can honestly say that I found it to be the most emotional . . . at least for me. Many would say that the series finale, (1.17-1.18) "The End". Mind you, "The End" had its share of emotional moments. But there were many aspects of it that I found very irritating. I found some flaws in the script for "Exodus". But I felt those flaws were overshadowed by some great writing by screenwriters/producers Damon Lindehof and Carlton Cuse. 

I might as well begin with what I consider to be the episode's flaws. The Season One finale featured flashbacks that revealed the castaways' experiences during their last hours in Sydney, Australia, before boarding Oceanic Flight 815. Mind you, I did not have any trouble with most of the flashbacks. Some of them revealed the development in personalities or relationships for some of the characters. This was apparent in Michael Dawson and Walt Lloyd's two flashbacks, along with Shannon Rutherford's, Charlie Pace's and to a certain extent, James 'Sawyer' Ford's. Other flashbacks revealed the personal clouds that hung over Jin-Soo Kwon, Sayid Jarrah and John Locke. Jack's flashback served as an introduction to Ana-Lucia Cortez, who would have a major role in the second season. But there were some flashbacks which I found useless and a waste of my time:

*Kate Austen - Her flashback featured U.S. Marshal Edward Mars explaining his long search for the young fugitive. Basically, all he did was reveal to the Sydney Airport authorities about his cat-and-mouse games with Kate and her infantile bank robbery in New Mexico. Yawn!

*Sun-Hwa Kwon - Her flashback merely confirmed her original secret knowledge of English via her understanding of the racist American couple who seemed to harbor clichés about Asian marriages.

*Hugo "Hurley" Reyes - His flashbacks consisted of a series of minor incidents that nearly causes him to miss Oceanic Flight 815. Was it Lindehof and Cuse's intent for the audience to view Hurley's experiences with the ironic view that he would have been better off by missing the flight? I do not know. Then again, I do not care.

Not only did I find Kate's flashback a bore, I found some of her actions in this episode rather . . . peculiar. Okay, I had no problem with her decision to accompany Jack and Locke to the Black Rock. She wanted to help. Okay. But following Leslie Artz's death, she decided that she wanted to be one of the two to carry the dynamite in her backpack:

LOCKE: It's not smart to keep it all together. So, we split them up. If we need 3 sticks to blow the hinge then we should bring 6 -- 3 and 3 -- failsafe, in case one of us...

JACK: You and me, then.

KATE: No, I'm -- I'm taking one.

JACK: It's not going to happen, no.

KATE: This is why I came.

JACK: Then, you wasted a trip.

I realize that the castaways' leader, Jack Shephard was being controlling. But why on earth was it necessary for Kate to carry some of the dynamite? Why on earth would a woman with the survival instinct of a well-trained mercenary want to risk her life to carry a bunch of unstable sticks of dynamite? Cuse and Lindehof never made Kate's reasons clear. Poor Evangeline Lilly. She really had to put up with a lot of shit from those two. 

At the beginning of the episode, Danielle Rousseau appeared at the Losties' camp with news that the Others were going to attack their camp. After accompanying Jack's expedition to the Black Rock, she returned to the Losties' camp with the intent to steal baby Aaron in order to exchange him for her long missing daughter, Alex. When Sayid and Charlie finally caught up with her and Aaron, she revealed that she 'did' hear whispering about the Others coming for the "boy". As it turned out, the Others were after Walt. And they snatched him from the raft that Michael, Sawyer and Jin used in their attempt to leave the island. But . . . why did they snatch Walt? More importantly, how did they know that he was special? I doubt that Others spy Ethan Spy had found out. He spent most of his time with the Losties keeping an eye on Claire Littleton, who was pregnant during his stay with them. If Cuse and Lindehof did reveal the details behind Ben Linus' decision to order Walt's kidnapping, they failed to do so in any of the series' 121 episodes. 

Thankfully, "Exodus" was filled with so many memorable scenes and moments that I am willing to forgive Cuse and Lindehof some of the episode's missteps. As I had stated earlier, this episode was filled with some very emotional moments. My favorite included Sawyer's revelation to Jack about his meeting with the latter's now deceased father back in Australia. Superb acting by both Josh Holloway and Matthew Fox. Another great moment featured Walt's decision to hand over his dog Vincent to the greiving Shannon. Neither Malcolm David Kelley or Maggie Grace had ever received any recognition for their acting. Well, perhaps Kelley did once. Yet, both of them gave some of their best performances in this scene - especially Grace. But who gave the best performances in the episode? For me, the honors should have went to Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim as the castaways' estranged Korean couple. The couple finally reconciled over their matter regarding Sun's secret ability to speak English in a very emotional moment that featured tears, hugs and superb acting by the two. In fact, I am still wondering why the two Kims had never received any major acting nominations for their performances on the show. Both Fox and Terry O'Quinn gave excellent performances in an interesting scene in which Jack questioned John Locke about his penchant for revolving his life around the island's mysteries.

Many fans have claimed that strong characterization has always been the major strength on "LOST". Perhaps. But there have been many times during the series' six season run in which some of the characterization seemed to have declined. Think (2.04) "Everybody Hates Hugo", (3.09) "Stranger in a Strange Land", (4.04) "Eggtown" or (4.06) "The Other Woman". But when it came to action-oriented scenes and story arcs, "LOST" was truly in its element. And "Exodus" had its share of memorable action-oriented scenes and one truly chilling one. 

My favorite action scenes included the expedition to the Black Rock, Leslie Artz's death, and Sayid and Charlie's search for Danielle and the kidnapped Aaron. However, one of the better scenes featured the Black Rock expedition's encounter with the Smoke Monster (aka the Man in Black) and the latter's attempt to drag Locke into some hole. When I think about it, some of the most effective action scenes during the series' first four seasons featured the Smoke Monster. But not even the Smoke Monster's attack upon Locke, Jack, Kate and Hurley was nothing in compare to what happened to the castaways on Michael's raft. In what I believe to be one of the most chilling scenes in the series' history, Walt ended up being kidnapped by the Others. Between the night setting, the violent attack upon the raft passengers and Walt's cries as he was being carried away by his kidnappers still leaves chills within me, even after six years.

My recent viewing of "Exodus" also left me pondering about some of the characters and events. While my family and I were watching those moments leading up to Walt's kidnapping, we found ourselves openly wondering what would have happened if Sawyer and Walt had not convinced Michael to fire that flare gun. Because once he did, the Others managed to find them within minutes. While reading some of the reviews and posts about this episode, I noticed that back in 2005, many assumed that Charlie would resume taking drugs after he found the Virgin Mary statuettes filled with heroin. Considering how Locke "helped" Charlie get over his drug addiction in (1.06) "House of the Rising Sun", I am not surprised that Charlie took one of those statuettes. In fact, I believe that Charlie did the right thing. Only he could really help himself get over his drug addiction. All Locke did was manipulate him into doing something that he had never volunteered to do in the first place. That is not real help.

Jack may be a controlling and doubting ass at times, but I found myself sympathizing with him during his conversation with Locke about the island. The fact that Locke believed that opening the hatch would lead to his "destiny" and his willingness to be dragged away by the Smoke Monster made me realize that the latter had been right in Season Six - Locke was a chump. He had spent most of his time on the island believing that he had to delve its mysteries in order to achieve some kind of destiny and the position of being special. And when Locke told Jack that the late Boone Carlyle had been a sacrifice that the island demanded, I am surprised that the good doctor managed to refrain from shooting him. If I had been in Jack's shoes, I would have shot him. I realize that it would have been the wrong thing to do, but I still would have shot him. I just do not see how Locke could justify Boone's death in that manner. 

"Exodus" has its flaws that I found worthy of a head shake, including some questionable flashbacks and the story arc featuring Kate and the dynamite sticks. But most of the episode featured some excellent writing that included great emotional moments and action sequences, along with first-rate acting by most of the cast. Not surprisingly, it is not only one of my favorite season finales of "LOST", but also one of my favorite episodes period.

"LOST" (2004-2010): Favorite Character Centric Episodes - Part II

Below is Part II of a list of my favorite episodes featuring "LOST" characters: 


"LOST" (2004-2010): FAVORITE CHARACTER CENTRIC EPISODES - Part II


James "Sawyer" Ford



1. (5.08) "La Fleur" - Sawyer, Juliet and the other remaining island survivors are left in 1974, following the end of the time jumps. They join the Dharma Initiative after rescuing one of their members from the Others.




2. (1.16) "Outlaws" - Sawyer becomes obsessed with finding the boar that raided his tent and goes into the jungle to find it. A flashback reveal the murder/suicide of his parents and his hunt for the con man who cheated them in Australia. 




Sayid Jarrah



1. (4.03) "The Economist" - Sayid makes a deal with Frank Lapidus to leave the island and head for the freighter, in exchange for freeing Charlotte Lewis from Locke's group. Flash forwards reveal his experiences as Ben's personal assassin.




2. (1.09) "Solitary" - Sayid meets Danielle Rosseau for the first time and is held captive by her. Flashbacks reveal his reunion with an old childhood friend, Nadia




3. (6.06) "Sundown" - After Sayid is recruited to the Man in Black's (aka the Smoke Monster) cause, the latter issues an ultimatum to the Others: either join him or die. Sayid helps his brother deal with a loan shark in the Flash Sideways. 




Jin-Soo Kwon

 

1. (1.17) ". . . In Translation" - Jin finally discovers that Sun knows English, while dealing with his latest clash with Michael. Flashbacks reveal the Kwons' troubling marriage from his POV. 




2. (5.05) "This Place Is Death" - This episode featured Jin's experiences with a younger Danielle Rousseau, her team and the Smoke Monster in 1988. Charlotte Lewis dies from the time jumping and Locke finally leaves the island via the Donkey Wheel.




Sun Hwa-Kwon



1. (3.18) "D.O.C." - After revealing that the Others' pregnant women have died before giving birth, Juliet helps Sun confirm the date of conception of her unborn baby, verifying the identity of the father.




2. (2.16) "The Whole Truth" - Sun discovers that she is pregnant. And flashbacks reveal some of her close relationship with an old beau and Jin's infertility. Meanwhile, Ana-Lucia, Sayid and Charlie set out verify Ben's story about arriving on the island in a balloon.




3. (1.06) "House of the Rising Sun" - Sun's unhappy marriage to Jin is revealed in this episode. Also, Jack makes plans to move the crash survivors to a large cave.




Benjamin Linus



1. (3.20) "The Man Behind the Curtain" - Ben leads Locke to a meeting with the Others' leader, Jacob at the island's mysterious cabin. And flashbacks reveal Ben's birth and his early years on the island.




2. (4.09) "The Shape of Things to Come" - In this episode, a team of mercenaries from the freighter attacks Locke's group at the Others' barracks. Meanwhile, flash forwards reveal Ben's early months off the island, which include recruiting Sayid as his assassin and a confrontation with Charles Widmore. 


Part III will feature the last five characters

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.17) ". . . In Translation"

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.17) ". . . In Translation"

Before I commence upon this article, I should reveal that the "LOST" Season One episode, (1.17) ". . . In Translation" is one of my all time favorites from the series. I will try to be as biased as possible regarding the episode, but do not expect me to succeed. 

To understand ". . . In Translation", one has to watch the previous episode, (1.06) "The House of the Rising Sun". The flashbacks in that episode revealed the backstory of the marriage between Jin-Soo Kwon and Sun-Hwa Kwon (née Paik) before they had ended up stranded on the island via Oceanic Flight 815. Told from Sun's point of view, the flashbacks revealed that Jin had to take a job working for Mr. Paik, Sun's father, for her hand in marriage. The couple became increasingly estranged, as Jin began spending more time doing his father-in-law's bidding than with his wife. One night, after they are married, Jin returned home covered in someone else's blood. Fearing that her husband might be a dangerous killer, Sun secretly plotted to leave Jin (hence the secret English lessons); but changed her mind while on route to Los Angeles, via Sydney. "The House of the Rising Sun" also revealed the growing animosity between Jin and fellow castaway Michael Dawson, when the former attacked the latter for wearing Sun's father's watch - something that Michael had discovered on the beach.

". . . In Translation" continued the revelation of the Kwon marriage, only from Jin's point-of-view. The flashbacks revealed the circumstances behind Jin asking Sun’s father her hand in marriage, the bargain he made to work for the older man, Jin’s growing awareness of Sun’s frustration with his duties and more importantly the real circumstances surrounding the infamous blood on his hands that Sun had spotted. Sun saw a man who may have committed a brutal murder. What really happened is that Jin prevented a government official – who had refused to re-open one of Mr. Paik’s factories – from being murdered by one of his father-in-law’s henchmen by convincing the man to cooperate with a severe beating. Realizing that he was in danger of losing Sun, Jin decided to take his fisherman father’s advice to use a business trip to leave South Korea and stay in the U.S. for good. Only the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 intervened. Following the events of (1.14) “Special”, Michael Dawson decided to build a raft in order to get his ten year-old son away from the dangers of the island. The hostility between Michael and Jin finally come to a head when someone mysteriously set fire to the raft. Believing that Jin had set the fire, Michael attacked the former. Sun’s desperate cries for Michael to stop revealed her knowledge of English to Jin and the other castaways. The revelation not only led to a rift between the South Korean couple, but also to the beginning of a friendship between Jin and Michael, as they proceeded to rebuild the raft.

Following the events of (1.14) "Special", Michael Dawson decided to build a raft in order to get his ten year-old son away from the dangers of the island. The hostility between Michael and Jin finally come to a head when someone mysteriously set fire to the raft. Believing that Jin had set the fire, Michael attacked the former. Sun’s desperate cries for Michael to stop revealed her knowledge of English to Jin and the other castaways. The revelation not only led to a rift between the South Korean couple, but also to the beginning of a friendship between Jin and Michael, as they proceeded to rebuild the raft.

This episode was aptly named ". . . In Translation", a take on Sofia Coppola's 2003 movie. If anything, it focused upon the main problem that surrounded the Kwon marriage - namely the bad communication that existed between the couple before and after the crash of Oceanic 815. For some time, Sun believed that Jin might be a murderer on her father's behalf, due to the blood she had spotted on his hand. This would explain why she had continuously declared to people like Michael and fellow castaway Kate Austen about Jin's dangerous nature and how "he was capable of anything". And this would explain why she took the trouble to learn English and not tell Jin. However, Jin was also guilty of keeping secrets from Sun. He never told Sun the details behind the blood on his hands, believing that it was not her place to know. More importantly, he lied about his father, Mr. Kwon, telling both Sun and her father that the latter was dead. Which is ironic, considering he left Sun after learning that she spoke English. Even more ironic is the fact that Sun knows that his father is alive . . . but never bothered to reveal this to Jin. Some viewers translated that last shot of Sun revealing her bikini without Jin hovering about, as a sign of her "freedom". Whatever ”="bondage" that Sun found during her marriage, had been created by bad communication between her and Jin. For me, Sun’s removal of her wrap struck me as a hollow and irrelevant gesture. Her"freedom" came at the cost of losing - at least for a while - the very man that she would always love more than anyone.

On a minor level, a lack of communications also continued to exist between Michael and Walt. Most fans tend to blame Michael for this by accusing him of being a poor parent. Although there were moments when Michael became forgetful of Walt. And there were other times when Michael's jealousy of Walt's friendship with castaway John Locke got in the way. However, many of these fans failed to recall that Walt was just as responsible as Michael, due to his residual resentment toward the major changes in his life - losing his mother and gaining a long lost father. Because of this resentment, Walt had a bad habit of disobeying his father when he should have done the opposite. As far as these fans are concerned, Locke would have made a better parent than Michael. Personally, I disagree. Locke was adept at being a friend to Walt. Being a friend did not necessarily mean one is a good parent. The latter has to be an effective disciplinarian, as well. Unfortunately, being a disciplinarian does not jibe with the early 21st century ideal of parenthood. 

A third storyline centered on the triangle that existed between Shannon Rutherford, Sayid Jarrah and Shannon’s stepbrother, Boone Carlyle. But I barely paid attention. In a nutshell, Sayid declared his intentions to court Shannon to Boone. The latter decided to stir up trouble by hinting to Sayid that Shannon likes to use older men for her own benefit. Needless to say, Shannon set things to right and resumed her romance with Sayid after receiving sound advice from Locke.

Screenwriters Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Leonard Dick really did a great job in continuing the revelations behind the Kwon marriage in this very emotional episode. The island incidents balanced very well against Jin's flashbacks regarding his marriage. And this episode really worked, due to the outstanding performances from Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim. Also Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson), Bryan Chung (Mr. Paik), and John Shin (Mr. Kwon) gave excellent support. 

Some of my favorite scenes in the episode included Jin's successful attempts to save the life of the South Korean government official, his marriage proposal to Mr. Paik and especially the poignant conversation he has with his father, Mr. Kwon, about his marriage. I also enjoyed the scenes that featured Michael's two attempts to bond with ten year-old Walt - the second being more successful. I also enjoyed Locke's revelation that Walt was responsible for burning the raft. But my favorite scene featured the moment when Jin discovered that Sun spoke English. Director Tucker Gates did an excellent job in conveying Jin's confusion with spinning camera work and muffled babble, as the the South Korean castaway tried to understand the English words that swirled around him. The only dark spot in this episode was Sawyer's attempt to form a lynch mob for Jin, after the raft caught on fire. It was an unpleasant reminder that Mr. Ford's penchant for resorting to violent retribution remained with him until the last season
. 
Some time ago, I had created a LIST of my ten favorite episodes from "LOST". ". . . In Translation" ranked at number six on my list. After my recent viewing of the episode, that ranking still stands.

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.01-1.02) "The Pilot"

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.01-1.02) "The Pilot"

The pilot episode of some of my favorite television series have rarely impressed me . . . if not at all. There are a few exceptions to the rule. And one of those exceptions happened to the be pilot episode for ABC-TV's "LOST".

Created by J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Leiber and Damon Lindelof, "LOST" aired on television for six seasons, between 2004 and 2010. As many fans know, "LOST" told about the survivors of a commercial passenger plane crash on a mysterious South Pacific island, while flying between Sydney and Los Angeles. While television viewers got to know these survivors during their time on the island, but also through flashbacks revealing their past. The series' first episode aired in two parts on September 22, 2004.

(1.01) "Pilot (Part 1)" introduced the series' leading character, a spinal surgeon named Dr. Jack Shephard, who wakes up in the middle of the jungle following the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. He stumbles onto the beach and finds the chaos left behind from Oceanic 815's crash. As everyone knows, the plane broke into three pieces before crashing on the island. Jack and most of the survivors ended upon with the fuselage. The cockpit and the plane's first-class section ended deep into the jungle with no survivors, save the pilot. And the tail section fell into the ocean on the other side of the island. Jack and some of the survivors like John Locke and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes help other passengers with injuries or dodging burning pieces. After helping some of the passengers, Jack goes to another part of the beach to tend to his own injury, when he meets Kate Austen. She sews up his injury, while the two bond. Many other things occur during the episode. Survivors either form friendships or get on each others' nerves. During their first night on the beach, everyone becomes unnerved by sounds of a monster deep in the jungle. The following day, Jack heads toward the cockpit to retrieve the plane's transceiver and is accompanied by Kate and musician Charlie Pace. They retrieve the transceiver and encounter the badly injured pilot, who informs them that the plane had lost radio contact six hours into the flight and veered off course. Before he can share any further information, he is seized by a strange being and killed. Jack, Kate and Charlie make a run for it.

(1.02) "Pilot (Part 2)" continue Jack, Kate and Charlie's flight from the monster that killed the pilot. During their absence, the dog of 10 year-old survivor Walt Lloyd finds a pair of handcuffs. A Middle Eastern survivor name Sayid Jarrah comes under suspicion from a Southern-born passenger named "Sawyer". Jack and his two companions make it back to the beach with the transceiver. Sayid, Kate, "Sawyer", Charlie and a step-brother-sister team named Boone Carlyle and Shannon Rutherford trek to the high ground to use the transceiver. Instead of contacting help, they manage to interpret a message sent earlier by a French woman on the island. One of the badly wounded survivors on the beach turn out to be a U.S. marshal demanding the whereabouts of his prisoner, a woman. Flashbacks reveal that the prisoner is Kate.

I will not deny that "LOST" is one of my favorite television series. It is not on my list of the top ten favorite shows. But it is on my list of top twenty favorites. Despite my favoritism toward "LOST", I cannot deny that it also possessed some seriously flawed writing. But it was not on display in the two-part pilot. Well . . . somewhat. A few of the occurrences in this episode ended up contradicting the series' future narrative.

It is ironic that the first villainous character to make his/her appearance in the series turned out to be the main villain - the Smoke Monster aka the Man in Black. The survivors heard its "roar" during their first night on the island. And he killed the Oceanic 815's pilot while the latter discussed the plane's location with Jack and Kate. In fact, the Smoke Monster killed another survivor in an early Season Three episode - Mr. Eko. While many fans are still debating the reason behind the MIB's murder of Mr. Eko, no one has figured out why the pilot was killed. Especially after Season Six revealed the list of candidates for the island's new caretaker. I suspect that the MIB was simply being portrayed as a supernatural monster before the writers had decided to portray him as a villain with a purpose.

I have two more complaints about the episode. Some of the characterizations struck me as one-dimensional. This was especially the case for Shannon Rutherford, who was portrayed as some bitchy Valley Girl; Jin Kwon, who was written as a cliché of the oppressive Asian husband; Sun Kwon, who was portrayed as the typically oppressed Asian wife; and James "Sawyer" Ford, who was not only unlikable, but also the one-dimensional Southern white male. In Sawyer's case, not only was his character portrayed in the worst clichéd manner possible, poor Josh Holloway was stuck with some pretty bad dialogue - especially in Part 2. He fared a lot better as the series progressed. Speaking of dialogue - yeech! Yes, I thought it was pretty bad. It was more than bad. I found it somewhat infantile and unmemorable.

Fortunately, the good outweighed the bad. Despite some of the one-dimensional characterization and bad dialogue, there were some pretty good performances. For me, one of the best performances came from Matthew Fox, who dived right into the role as the series' lead character, Dr. Jack Shephard. Fox gave early hints of the complicated and deeply flawed character later revealed in future episodes. Fox's early revelation of Jack's flaws must have been subtle, for the later revelation of his flaws seemed to have taken many by surprise. Dominic Monaghan gave a funny and charming performance as the drug-addicted musician, Charlie Pace. And yet, his performance was skillfully shaded with hints of his character's drug addiction. Thanks to Naveen Andrews' subtle, yet intense performance and good writing, the character of Sayid Jarrah rose above the usual clichés featuring Middle Eastern characters. Emilie de Ravin was a delight as the pregnant Australian survivor, Claire Littleton. As for Evangeline Lilly, she did a pretty good job as Kate Austen, the survivor trying to hide her status as a Federal prisoner. However, I had some difficulty accepting her as the take charge type, as the script tried to portray her in Part 2. Terry O'Quinn was perfectly mysterious as John Locke, but viewers had to wait for another two episodes before he began to shine in the role. And Harold Perrineau gave a skillful performance as Michael Dawson, the inexperienced father of 10 year-old survivor, Walt Lloyd.

I felt that the narrative for "The Pilot", which was written by Abrams and Lindelof, proved to be a well-written adventure. The story covered all of the elements for a story about survivors on a tropical island. The addition of the Smoke Monster injected a little horror and a great deal of mystery that would become the series' hallmark. One of the aspects of "The Pilot" that I found particularly interesting was that it started with a close-up of Jack Shephard's eye - post crash. In other words, this story did not start with the crash. Audiences were not treated to scenes aboard Oceanic Flight 815 and the actual crash, except during flashbacks. Very unusual. There were other scenes that I still find fascinating after ten years. My God! Has it been ten years? Those scenes include Jack, Kate and Charlie's escape from the cockpit, following the pilot's death; the discovery of Danielle Rousseau's message in Part 2; the encounter with the polar bear; and the survivors' first awareness of the Smoke Monster's existence. But the one scene that many consider outstanding - including myself - is that opening shot of the fuselage wreckage on the beach and the chaos that surrounded it. I must admit that not only did J.J. Abrams really outdid himself in this particular scene, it is probably one of his best directed sequences in his entire career.

Despite a few hiccups regarding dialogue and some one-dimensional characterizations, "LOST" provided one of the best series openings I have ever viewed on television, thanks to some superb direction by J.J. Abrams, a damn fine cast and a well written teleplay. It is a pity that the series has never been able to maintain such excellent consistency during the rest of its six seasons on the air.

JAMES "SAWYER" FORD and the Art of Illusion

JAMES "SAWYER" FORD and the Art of Illusion

In past articles, I have complained about the willingness of some ”LOST” fans to make excuses or dismiss some of Kate Austen’s more serious mistakes and crimes. But after a debate on the ”TELEVISION WITHOUT PITY” about the character of James “Sawyer” Ford, I now realize that Kate was not the only popular character that fans tend to defend. One other character has been defended just as much, or perhaps even more than Kate. And I am referring to one James “Sawyer” Ford. 

I suppose it made sense that Sawyer’s profession happened to be a con artist. Several years following the deaths of his parents, he proved to be quite adept at deceiving and swindling a good number of people for his benefit. After surviving the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, it did not take long for the series to display Sawyer’s talent for deceiving his fellow castaways, several other inhabitants on the mysterious island, and more importantly, himself.

As a child, James had endured a traumatic tragedy after another confidence man had swindled money from his family. That tragedy soon followed when his father murdered his mother (who had an affair with the con man) before committing suicide. These tragic events not only led Sawyer into eventually becoming a con man, himself; but also a very unpopular character with the fans – especially during Season One. He was a surly and sardonic man with a tendency to antagonize other characters, think only of himself and dump some of the silliest nicknames upon the other castaways. However, once the fans became aware of Sawyer’s childhood tragedy in episodes like (1.08) “Confidence Man” and (1.16) “Outlaws”; he became something of a fan favorite – especially in his relationship with Kate. Fans soon began to appreciate Sawyer’s nicknames for others (why, I do not know), his sardonic sense of humor and Southern charm. When Sawyer began displaying signs of heroism in Season Four episodes like (4.09) “The Shape of Things to Come” and (4.12-4.14) “There’s No Place Like Home, Parts I and II”, certain fans began to view him as the overall hero of the series . . . or perhaps someone who should be the series’ hero.

One of the results from the Ford family tragedy was James’ search for the real “Sawyer”, the man who had swindled his parents. Young James had dumped the blame for his parents’ deaths completely on this con man’s shoulders. Not only did he write a letter to the man (which he kept on his person) at the age of eight, promising revenge for his family’s tragedy; he finally got the chance to exact his revenge. In the Season Three episode, (3.19) “The Brig”, fellow castaway John Locke was ordered by Ben Linus of the Others to kill his father – a confidence man named Anthony Cooper – in order to prove himself a worthy member of their group. Unfortunately, Locke could not get himself to kill Cooper, despite the latter’s taunts. But when Locke learned more about his father’s past, he found someone who could do the job for him. Namely, one James “Sawyer” Ford.

I suppose no one should have been surprised that James would end up murdering Cooper. I certainly was not surprised. But I also felt a great deal of disappointment and contempt toward the con man. For 28 years – since the age of eight – James had solely blamed Anthony Cooper for his parents’ deaths. In other words, he used Anthony Cooper as a scapegoat for all of the hurt he had experienced during that troubling time. Yes, Cooper had been guilty of swindling the Ford family and having an affair with Mrs. Ford. But that was the extent of his guilt. As he matured into an adult, I wonder if James ever bothered to wonder about his parents’ action. Look at Mr. Ford. How did he expressed himself after realizing that he had been swindled by Cooper and cuckolded by Mrs. Ford? He murdered his wife in cold blood and then committed suicide; instead of reporting Cooper to the police and divorcing his wife. Sawyer could blame Anthony Cooper for swindling his family. But apparently, he seemed incapable of realizing that his mother was guilty of adultery with Cooper . . . and his father was guilty of murder. Even worse, James refused to admit that his father had reacted to his wife’s infidelity and Cooper’s deception with vindictiveness and cowardice.

When you think about it, one could say that Sawyer is almost a chip off the old block. His determination to solely blame Cooper for his parents’ deaths not only led him to eventually murder the con man on the island, it also led him to commit another murder before he had boarded Oceanic Flight 815 in Sydney, Australia. Back in the United States, a fellow con man named Hibbs informed James that Cooper is living in Australia, under the alias of Frank Duckett. After catching up with the man in Sydney and shooting him, Duckett revealed that his name was not an alias and that he owned money to Hibbs. In other words, Hibbs had used James’ desire for revenge to murder an innocent man. And in ”The Brig”, Locke used that same desire to manipulate the Alabama native into committing another murder. Many fans have claimed that James’ murder of Cooper allowed him some form of solace over his parents’ deaths. For me, his solace is false. The murder only allowed James to ignore the fact that his parents – especially his father – was even more guilty for leaving him in an orphan state. In fact, James’ desire for revenge allowed two men to make a chump out of him.

Around the end of Season One, James managed to win a seat aboard a raft constructed by another castaway – Michael Dawson. Along with Michael, the latter’s ten year-old son Walt Lloyd, and a fourth castaway, Jin-Soon Kwon; James sailed away from the island in (1.23-1.25) “Exodus: Parts 1 and 2”. As everyone knows, the raft passengers failed to get very far after young Walt was kidnapped and James was shot by Tom Friendly and the Others. James, Michael and Jin washed up on the other side of the island; was briefly held as prisoners by surviving Tail Section passengers led by Ana-Lucia Cortez. The three men and the Tail Section survivors eventually reached the Fuselage passengers’ camp. After James was nursed back to health, he noticed that a good number of belongings had been taken by the other castaways. But he did or said nothing . . . until Jack violated his privacy by taking a bottle of aspirin from his tent in (2.13) “The Long Con”. What happened? Sawyer decided to take control of the guns through a con job that involved Charlie Pace’s assistance and scaring the hell out of Jin’s wife, Sun-Hwa. Not only was he pissed at Jack for entering his tent without permission, he was angry at the other castaways for going through his things after he left the island on Michael's raft:

”That's right, Jack. He's as stupid as you are. You were so busy worrying about each other you never even saw me coming, did you? How about you listen up because I'm only going to say this once. You took my stuff. While I was off trying to get us help -- get us rescued -- you found my stash and you took it, divvied it up -- my shaving cream, my batteries, even my beer.”

One, Sawyer could have simply taken the pills back from Jack, through a fist fight, if he had to. But his anger at the other castaways bordered on the ridiculous . . . at least to me. Sawyer originally had no intention of returning to the island in the first place, when he left on that raft. Why on earth did he expect the other castaways to keep their hands off his belongings, when he had left them behind without any intention of using them again? Did he expect them to erect some kind of shrine in his memory? Not only could the entire con could have been avoided, it initiated a storyline that went nowhere.

The events of ”Exodus” led to another result – Sawyer’s murder of Tom Friendly in the Season Three finale, (3.22-3.23) “Through the Looking Glass”. Some fans had claimed that the death of Tom, one of the Others that followed Ben Linus’ lead, had been necessary measure to prevent Tom from becoming a possible threat. Others claimed that the castaways were in a “war” and Sawyer had every right to murder Tom in cold blood. I find the last argument a joke and a horrifying example of excuses human beings will use to condone violence. The argument that Sawyer had defended his fellow castaways from the threat of Tom did not resonate with me. As far as I am concerned, Sawyer was defending squat. A former member of the Others who had joined the castaways, Juliet Burke, had already prevented Tom from grabbing a gun. Then Tom surrendered. And what did Sawyer do? He shot Tom in cold blood, when the guy was defenseless. And Hurley protested his act of murder. Which did not strike as an act of defending friends to me. The murder seemed like an obvious act of revenge, sparked by Sawyer's own vindictive personality. He eventually admitted it seconds later:


SAWYER: That's for taking the kid off the raft.
HURLEY: Dude it was over, he surrendered.
SAWYER: I didn't believe him.

Bullshit!! I suspect that Sawyer believed that Tom’s surrender was genuine. He simply wanted revenge. And I am beginning to wonder if he only wanted revenge for Walt’s kidnapping. After all, the moment he, Jack, and John Locke had encountered Tom in (2.11) “The Hunting Party”, the first words that came out of his mouth were:

”He's the son-of-a-bitch that shot me on the raft.”

One, Sawyer did not even mention Walt. Two, Tom never shot Sawyer. In fact, he never ordered someone to shoot Sawyer. The latter got shot, because he was stupid enough to try something when Tom and the Others had guns trained on him, Michael and Jin. Tom did not even have to say a word. The same thing occurred in ”The Hunting Party”. Even worse, James was determined to use Tom as the scapegoat for Walt’s kidnapping. Yes, Tom did lead the kidnapping mission. However, by ”Through the Looking Glass”, both the fans and the series’ characters that Ben had been the one who ordered Walt’s kidnapping.  And was Ben who decided when and how Walt would be returned to Michael. Tom was guilty of following orders. Yet, when Sawyer had the chance to attack Ben for Walt's kidnapping, Sawyer did NOTHING. Instead, he attacked Ben for making innuendos about Kate preferring Jack's company to his in the Season Four premiere, (4.01) “The Beginning of the End”. Did that mean Sawyer was afraid to force Ben to pay the price for Walt’s kidnapping? Or did he allow his mind to focus upon the illusion that Tom was solely to blame, because he needed a convenient scapegoat to feed his vindictive nature?

I am sure that many ”LOST” fans are aware of the latest tragedies that occurred in the most recent episode, (6.14) “The Candidate”. Due to a bomb planted on a submarine that the remaining castaways had planned to use to leave the island, Sayid Jarrah, Jin and Sun Kwon and pilot Frank Lapidus lost their lives. In (6.01) “LAX – Part I”, thirteen episodes before this tragedy, James’ then lady love, Dr. Juliet Burke, had lost her life after triggering Jughead – an atomic bomb that the U.S. Army had brought to the island in 1954. She had followed a plan originally initiated by Daniel Farrady and followed through by Jack after Farrady’s death to use the bomb to change the timeline in the hopes that Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 would land in Los Angeles.  The bomb did three things – create an alternative timeline; sent the time traveling castaways back to the early 21st century (2007); and slowly killed Juliet. Sawyer resorted to his old game of using convenient scapegoats and solely blamed Jack for her death; completely ignoring the fact that Daniel had created the plan in the first place, Sayid was just as enthusiastic to carry out the plan, and Juliet changed her mind and made the decision to trigger the bomb herself. Was Jack guilty of Juliet’s death? Yes. Was Jack solely guilty of Juliet’s death? No. But Sawyer did not care. With both Daniel and Juliet dead, he needed a scapegoat for his pain. The surviving Jack Shephard was that scapegoat.

For the next thirteen episodes, James harbored a deep and lingering anger and resentment toward Jack. It all came to a head aboard Charles Widmore’s submarine, when the castaways discovered that the entity known as the Man in Black (MIB) had planted a bomb. Most of them aboard were candidates to replace another entity known as Jacob, who had ensured the MIB’s presence on the island. With Jacob and his candidates dead, the MIB would finally be able to escape. What happened after the discovery of the bomb? Jack realized that if they allowed the countdown to continue, nothing would happen. After all, the MIB – for some reason – could not directly kill any of Jacob’s candidates. But due to his lingering distrust and anger toward Jack, James refused to believe him and tried to deactivate the bomb. Instead, the bomb’s countdown accelerated. Realizing that they were all about to be killed, Sayid grabbed the bomb and raced to the other side of the submarine to ensure they would not be in direct fire of the blast. Sayid was immediately killed. Frank was knocked out cold from the blast and no one could find him. He was eventually found floating on the water's surface by Miles Straume and Richard Alpert, who were on their way to Hydra Island and the Ajira 316 plane.  Sun found herself trapped by wreckage. But since James was knocked out cold, Jack had to help him escape from the submarine (Hurley had already assisted a wounded Kate into the water), while Jin tried to free her. Unable to do so, he decided to remain by his wife’s side, until their deaths. The episode ended with an unconscious James and the grieving Jack, Kate and Hurley on a beach.

Some fans had supported James’ decision not to trust Jack, claiming Juliet’s death as a good reason for him not to do so. Perhaps. But James and Jack have been enemies ever since Oceanic 815's crash in September 2004.  A great deal of their enmity had to do with their rivalry for the affections of one Kate Austen. And the two have a history of rarely trusting one another in the first place. And considering all that has occurred on the island, I believe that James could have tried to put aside his remaining feelings and realize that Jack could have been right about the MIB. He also could have opened his mind and realized that Jack was not solely responsible for Juliet’s death. But due to James' habit of using someone as a scapegoat for his pain, he solely blamed Jack for Juliet's death. James was also a pragmatic man. Perhaps too pragmatic for his own good at times. He has never been in the habit of immediately giving anyone the benefit of the doubt. And it is possible that not only did he not trust Jack, he was unwilling to consider the supernatural as an excuse for anything or anyone they had encountered on the island. It is possible that he wanted to flee the island and his memories of those three years with Juliet so badly that he was unwilling to listen to anyone – except for the Man in Black, who insisted that he could get all of them off the island. Perhaps Jack’s willingness to carry out Daniel Farrady’s plans regarding Jughead may have led to that moment when James pulled the wires from that bomb. But I believe that James’ own emotional demons, his desperation to flee the island and his inability to instinctively give others a chance may have sealed the Kwons and Sayid's fates.

Considering James' reaction to his discovery of the three deaths following his action aboard Widmore’s submarine, I wonder if he had ever learned to let go?  Did he finally learned to at least give others a chance, if not immediately trust them?  Did he finally realize that he had acquired a great deal of blood on his hands over those three years, due to his own demons and a tendency to form immediate scapegoats for the problems and pain he has experienced?  Did he ever learned to finally learn to let go of his illusions and face the reality of his situation . . . and himself? I hope so for his sake.

"LOST" - Musings on Season Four and the Finale

"LOST" - MUSINGS ON SEASON FOUR AND THE FINALE

ABC’s megahit series, ”LOST’ is considered among the best television series on the air during this past decade. The magazine, "Entertainment Weekly" considers it to be the fifth best series in television history. I have to admit that it is one of the most original series I have ever seen. But after watching its Season Four finale – "There’s No Place Like Home (Parts 2 and 3)", I cannot help but wonder if the series’ reputation might be a little exaggerated.

To put it bluntly, ”There’s No Place Like Home (Parts 2 and 3)” left me with mixed feelings. Mind you, it had its virtues. One of the best moments during that two hour broadcast was watching Yunjin Kim’s performance as the complex Korean wife who may or may not have witnessed the death of her husband, portrayed by the equally talented Daniel Dae Kim. Her performance was fantastic, whether she was expressing Sun Kwon’s horror and grief over witnessing her husband being blown up, while trying to escape a freighter that had been set up to explode. Whether he is dead or not, will be revealed in Season Five. But she believes he is dead. Which would explain the cold, avenging angel she has become in the months following the birth of her fatherless infant daughter.

There were other virtues in this episode:

*Evangeline Lily’s performance in a scene in which Sawyer (Josh Holloway) says good-bye to Kate. Yes, I am actually complimenting Lily’s performance. She is no Yunjin Kim, but I think that she managed to rise up to the occasion in that scene and in the episode’s opening scene that featured a continuation of Jack (Matthew Fox) and Kate’s meeting at the L.A. airport in the flash forward, carried over from Season Three’s “Through the Looking Glass”. However, I continued to dislike the Kate Austen character for another season-and-a-half.

*The Two Kisses – For me, I was impressed not only by Sawyer’s good-bye kiss to Kate, but Desmond and Penny’s reunion kiss. Actually, I would say that the last one was more spectacular.

*The fight scene between Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Keamy (Kevin Durand). It seemed fitting for two men-of-action characters, such as themselves.

*I also liked the moment when Jack, Sawyer, Kate and Sayid joined Frank Lapidus for the first time, aboard his helicopter. There was nothing particularly special about it, but it seemed to have its own sense of magic.

*And there was Sawyer’s return to the island, where he meets Juliet on the beach. The scene started out light-hearted, until Juliet points out to the former con man of the freighter’s (and possibly the passengers on Lapidus’ helicopter) fate.

Unfortunately for ”There’s No Place Like Home (II & III)”, the flaws seemed to outweigh the virtues. Flaws that had a lot to do with contrived writing. First example? The bomb on the freighter. What was the purpose of that bomb? Why did Keamy even bothered to plant C4 explosions on that freighter, ‘The Kahana’? Even worse, why bother to wear a remote trigger linked to a heart-rate monitor in order to blow up the boat? What was the point of this plot twist . . . other than to kill Michael Dawson and place anyone aboard the freighter in danger? Did Keamy assume that the castaways would start making their way to the Kahana? What? It all seemed so contrived.

Speaking of contrivance, there is the object dubbed by ”LOST” viewers as ’The Frozen Donkey Wheel’. Apparently, this is the wheel that Ben (Michael Emerson) had turned to move the island or make it invisible. According to a ”Popular Mechanics” article, the wheel changed the island’s space-time connection to the rest of the Earth. Yeah. Whatever. Let’s just say that it did not impress me.

Another problem I had with this episode was the fate of Claire’s infant son, Aaron. Yes, I know that the fourth episode of this season - ”Eggtown” - made it clear that Kate ends up as Aaron’s guardian back in the States. Even after seeing how Aaron ended up in her custody . . . it still does not make any sense to me. I keep thinking of that scene near the end of the episode, when Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun and Hurley part from Desmond and Penny, so that they could complete their rescue with a nine hour voyage to some nearby island. Why would Penny hand Aaron over to Kate? Why would Kate take custody of Aaron? Surely, she should have considered the possibility that her chances of keeping Aaron was not that hot, considering her fugitive status. Or why did Kate fail to ask Penny for cash and place where she and Aaron could hide out? The moment when Penny handed Aaron over to Kate seemed so contrived and stupid.

*And can someone please explain how a two-month old child was able to survive so many hours without his mother’s milk or food, along with a helicopter crash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and nine hours of exposure to the sun, while in lifeboat with other castaways? I suppose one could say that ”the island” protected him. Yeah. Whatever. God, who wrote this shit?

Returning back to the Kahana, I have this question to ask - why didn’t Michael, Desmond and Jin warned the other Losties and crew members on the freighter to abandon ship, when they first discovered the C4? Why in the hell did they keep the matter a secret from the others? Why? What was the point? Drama? Another contrived reason to bump off Michael? This has to be one of the most stupid moments I have ever seen on television. To make matters even more idiotic, Jin hesitated to jump ship at the end, so that he could drag Michael along. ”Jin . . . darling, you have a wife and unborn child waiting for you. Why didn’t you get your ass up to the deck when Michael first told you?” Dammit, I hate such stupidity! I especially hate it when writers drum up this mess.

Finally, we come to the biggest pile of horseshit of the episode . . . namely, Michael Dawson’s death. After watching this episode, I can only say that Harold Perrineau’s return to ”LOST” was the biggest waste of his time and the time of his fans. What in the fuck were Cuse and Lindehof thinking? In a TV Guide interview, Perrineau had accused the two producers of bringing him back so that they could appease the bloodlust of the fans who hated Michael for his Season Two actions. I am beginning to believe that he might be right. Cuse and Lindehof could have kept Michael on the show for a while and allow him to deal with the consequences of his actions by facing the Losties. The only castaways who saw him were Sayid, the Kwons and Desmond, who did not even know him. And nothing much really came from his reunion with him. Sayid did expose him to the captain of the Kahana as Ben’s spy. But Michael did not really suffer from the betrayal, aside from one or two beatings. Sun seemed more upset about him being Ben’s spy on the Kahana than over what he had done in Season 2. And with the immediate discovery of the bomb, Jin and Michael immediately resumed their old friendship. After Cuse and Lindehof’s big announcement of Perrineau’s return, the actor managed to appear in at least five or six episodes out of fourteen, before his character was blown sky high in the Kahana’s destruction. All I can say is - ”What in the fuck?”

But the mixed quality of ”There’s No Place Like Home (II &III)” seemed a reflection of the entire Season Four. Some are claiming that this was the show’s best season. I wish I could agree. Season Four had started out as very promising. But in the end, it has not usurped my belief that Season One remains the best. Like its finale, Season Four turned out to be a curious mixture of the good and the bad.

There were plenty of good episodes during this season. Episodes like ”The Beginning of the End” and ”Confirmed Dead” not only led to the Losties being split into two camps, but it also introduced four new characters to the show – Daniel Faraday, Miles Straume, Charlotte Lewis and Frank Lapidus. Then came ”The Economist”, which turned out to be my favorite Sayid-centric episode. Its flash forward eventually revealed Sayid as Ben’s troubleshooter – or hitman – who was killing colleagues of Ben’s enemy, Charles Widmore. Another standout episode turned out to be ”The Constant”, a Desmond-centric episode. In it, the Scotsman encounters time traveling side effects from his exposure to an EMP discharge. Mind you, I found it a little confusing at times, but the emotional payoff was worth the confusion. Two other outstanding episodes – at least for me – were ”Meet Kevin Johnson”, which revealed what happened to Michael Dawson and his son Walt, following their departure at the end of Season Two; and ”The Shape of Things to Come”, in which the group of Losties under Locke, encountered Charles Widmore’s murderous henchman, Martin Keamy, and his band of killers.

There were also episodes that I found . . . decent, but not exactly mind blowing. There were Ji Yeon”, ”Cabin Fever” and ”There’s No Place Like Home (Part I)”. I take it back. The revelation that Jin did not make it off the island with Sun had taken me by surprise. And so did the appearance of Claire inside Jacob’s cabin with Christian also shocked me. Like the finale that aired on May 29, I have mixed feelings about ”Something Nice Back Home”. I found the circumstances surrounding Jack’s appendectomy rather pointless. In fact, I am still a little confused over how it was supposed to add to the story. But I must admit that the events that led to Jack and Kate’s breakup in that episode’s flash forward was fascinating. This episode also provided another glimpse at Matthew Fox’s superb acting skills.

There were three episodes – out of fourteen – that I found troubling. One was ”The Other Woman”, a Juliet-centric episode. In this, we learned that Juliet had an affair with Goodwin – the Other who had been killed by Ana-Lucia Cortez in Season Two. We also learned that Goodwin had been married. The episode also revealed that Ben harbored an obsession of Juliet. And it also featured a knock-out, dragged out fight between Juliet and one of the Freighter passengers – Charlotte. But this is an episode that belonged to Season Three. Even worse, there was no real follow-up over Daniel and Charlotte’s presence at the Tempest Station and their actions with the gas. Frankly, I found the ending to be rather vague. Still . . . it provided another outstanding performance by Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet.

The second episode I had trouble with was the season’s last one - ”There’s No Place Like Home” (Part III)”. Since I have said all that I could about that episode and its predecessor, I might as well focus on what I consider to be THE WORST episode of Season Four – the Kate-centric ”Eggtown”. In this episode, Kate joins Locke’s group at the abandoned Otherville quarters, so she could find out if the quartet from the Kahana and the outside world knew about her status as a fugitive. The episode’s flash forwards revealed her trial, how she avoided jail time and ended up serving ten years’ probation. It also revealed that she became the guardian of Claire’s son, Aaron. Frankly, that last reveal proved to be the only interesting thing about this episode. Everything else struck me as a joke. One that left a bad taste in my mouth. And although I had praised Evangeline Lily’s performance in the finale, ”Eggtown” proved that on the whole, she has remained, at best, a mediocre actress during the show’s four seasons. The biggest travesty proved to be the trial, in which the defense called its witness – namely a lying Jack – first; the prosecution’s only witness was allowed to see the defendant in private; and because of this, the prosecution gave Kate a plea deal, because the witness (Kate’s mom) refused to testify against . . . conveniently forgetting the former castaway’s other crimes. One that includes attempted bank robbery. And what really annoyed me about ”Eggtown” is that it served as the beginning of a series of contrived events that led to Kate’s possession of Aaron. For me, Kate’s story arc proved to be the season’s biggest weakness.

Watching the finale made me realize something about ”LOST” that has made me reluctant to dub it as one of the finest shows in television history. Even some of the best shows I have seen - ”BABYLON FIVE” and ”BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER” had its share of weak episodes or storylines that were dumped at the wayside. But those two shows and a few others have been consistently top-notch. I wish I could say the same about ”LOST”, but I cannot. I will admit that it is one of the most original television series I have ever watched. But that originality has been sabotaged every now and then by contrived writing and some pretty bad characterization. This has especially been obvious to me during the last half of Season Two – including the badly written ”Two For the Road”. Like ”Eggtown”, it was partially saved by a surprise ending. At least two-thirds of Season Three had left a bad taste in my mouth, including the contrived departure of Mr. Eko in ”The Cost of Living” and the atrocious ”I Do” and ”Stranger in a Strange Land’.

Aside from Season One, the series’ quality for each season always seemed to flip-flop. This show has yet to maintain a consistently top-notch season since the first one. Hopefully . . . that will change with the last two seasons.