Warning... this is a review (actually, more of a play-by-play with my observations thrown in just for fun!) of tonight's episode of "Lost." If you haven't seen it, don't read this!!
The episode's name is "Tabula Rasa," which means "clean slate." Interesting choice.
Previously, on "Lost"... Have you ever noticed that they always show the scenes that will impact the coming episode during the "previously on... " section? I've always found that interesting.
So tonight's episode opens with Jack (the doctor) finding out that Kate (his obvious love interest) is the one the handcuffs were intended for, and it's not something kinky! He finds a mug shot of her in the air marshal's pocket. During the rest of the episode, Kate's flashbacks show a car chase and the man who caught her. We never actually see the crime she committed or why the guy was after her.
On to another subject, the "hothead" Sawyer, is starting to really get on my nerves. He comes up with the most offensive nicknames and comments. But then there is something about him that makes you wonder if that's all just an act. But probably not.
Shortly after Sawyer's absurd nicknames, which include calling Sayid a couple of bigoted names such as "Abdul" and "Al-Jezeera" and calling Kate "Freckles," Hurley finds the mugshot of Kate. He says, "Dude."
The group that went up the mountain to see if the tranceiver would work decides to camp out for the night rather than going back through the jungle at night, and the gun that Sawyer shot the polar bear with becomes a hot subject again. They give the gun to Kate, not knowing she is the prisoner.
After they return to the beach and the rest of the survivors, Sayid takes charge, organizing the people into groups and giving them jobs. Kate pulls Jack aside and tells him about the French transmission they heard. Jack looks sufficiently shocked and then extremely daunted. Still cute, though. Jack asks Kate if there is anything else she wants to say, obviously waiting for her to out herself as the prisoner, but she doesn't. Instead, she pumps him for information about the condition of the ailing air marshal. Jack lies and says the marshal didn't say anything.
After the commercial break, Jack and Hurley have a conversation about Kate and the marshal. Jack confides that the marshal is not going to survive if he doesn't have stronger antibiotics, which he thinks he can get from the plane. Hurley turns green at the idea of going in there with all the dead bodies and Jack volunteers to go instead.
Inside the plane, Jack finds Sawyer. He's looting the plane. Oddly, my pick for quote of the episode comes from Sawyer, who tells Jack: "Brother, you've got to wake up and smell the gull crap here. Rescue ain't coming." He may be a massive jerk, but he makes a compelling point.
There's a cute scene with Charlie (the rock star) helping Claire with her luggage. They have a moment, which makes me wonder if something will be happening there. The winner for conversation of the episode is this one between them:
Charlie: So your husband, was he on the flight?
Claire: Oh, no, I'm not married.
Charlie: Oh.
Claire: I know, how very modern of me.
Charlie: Well, who needs men, right? Bloody useless. (they both laugh)
Now maybe I'm biased, but I think Charlie is just adorable. Of course, I'm a big Dom fan, so that might explain it.
So after that, there's a moment between Kate and Hurley, where she figures out that he knows she's the prisoner. Kate goes to the marshal's tent. He wakes up and tries to choke her. He's actually pretty spry for someone who is dying. Jack comes in an asks Kate what she did. He obviously doesn't believe that the guy just grabbed her. She asks him about relieving the marshal's suffering and Jack refuses. He confesses that he saw her mugshot.
The marshal moans and groans into the night, making everyone wish he wasn't suffering anymore. Sawyer talks to Kate about ending his suffering and reminds her that she's the only one with a gun.
Meanwhile, back in the marshal's tent, he keeps telling Jack not to trust Kate, and Jack keeps asking him what Kate did. The marshal wants to talk to Kate alone. I'm beginning to wish he had died a long time ago. There's only so much of the coughing and suffering that I can deal with, you know? He basically asks Kate to kill him, because he knows he's going to die. She doesn't kill him. The shot is fired by Sawyer, who actually shot him in the chest and didn't kill him. Ugh, now there's blood trickling from his mouth. Sawyer looks horrified that he didn't provide a quick and painless death for the marshal, but the noises coming from the tent sound like Jack smothered him or something.
After another commercial break, Locke is shown on the beach, facing the jungle. He is blowing a whistle that he made out of a reed or something. The dog that the little boy has been looking for comes out of the jungle. Locke goes to the father and tells him the dog is tied to a tree and that he should bring it back to his son.
There is a brief moment between Jack and Kate, also sitting on the beach. She says she wants to tell Jack what she did, but Jack says he doesn't want to know. He says they all died three days ago and that they should all be able to start over. Darn it! I wanted to know what she did. Maybe the will revisit that later.
A montage of scenes close out the episode, showing the passengers doing nice things for each other or bonding in some way. The dad brings the dog back to the kid, who hugs it. It's all very nice until they zoom in on Locke's face and very strange music plays in the background. What is the deal with that guy??? Now, I love Terry O'Quinn, even had the opportunity to meet him once on a movie shoot, and he was very nice, but this character is very strange. One minute he's perfectly normal, helping a father bond with his son, and the next minute, they are showing him with a strange look on his face and menacing music, which always means something is going on.
I really love this show! The writing is great, and there is so much drama! One other thing to mention is that I think the camera work is very cool. It helps add to the tension of the show and helps the audience feel just as lost as the characters. Of course, you would expect an awesome show from JJ Abrams, who created Alias.
So this ends my very, very lengthy post about tonight's episode of "Lost." I hope it wasn't too boring to read!
Anita Havel
The Casual Critic
