Review of Lost 6.01/02 - 'LA X'
First off, I'm not gonna lie -- I loved this episode. I never feel that the premieres are all that strong, and my favourite till this point (besides 'Pilot', of course) was 'A Tale of Two Cities'.
I have known about the flash-sideways since September or October -- at least, that's when I finally worked out what all these filming updates being both in the airport and on the island meant. So that wasn't a shock for me, and for some reason I haven't been apprehensive about it. I understand people's complaints: that the flash-sideways in essence erase the characters that we've all come to love over the past five seasons. But at the same time, I felt like 'LA X' was a more character driven episode than anything last year (with the exception of 'Some Like it Hoth' and 'The Variable', which, IMO, were the best episodes of the whole season hands down), and I realised, upon our rewatch of season 5, that its lack of character centricity in individual episodes is really why the whole season fell so flat for me. I can remember particular scenes that I loved, but when I think of the episodes that they're from (if I can even remember what episode they're from), I realise that I didn't really enjoy that episode as a whole, only a scene here and there.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I was totally on board with doing something different than what went on last season. And I actually like the idea behind the flash-sideways. This show has been about destiny vs. free will for a long time, so I really love that we're going to explore what aspects of these characters' personalities were inborn and fated, and which were affected by the island's mere existence.
And maybe I'll be wrong on this, but I just don't think that in the end the alt timeline is going to be the 'real' timeline.
So there's my meta thoughts on the structure of the season, and here are my specific thoughts on the episode:
1. We'll start with something I didn't like. These new Temple Others. I mean, great, we saw Cindy and the kids, that's lovely. But these other guys? Seriously, I have Others I like. All the ones you killed, Damon and Carlton. So bring back fucking Mikhail and Klugh and Ethan and Tom and Pickett and...well, you get the idea. Mr 'I-don't-like-the-way-English-tastes-on-my-tongue' can suck it.
1a. Incidentally, I get that he doesn't want to speak English, but you're shouting out orders, dude. Maybe you could do it in English to expedite the process.
2. A couple of the sound effects were great in this episode. I like the new flash sound. Chris thought it was the time-flashing sound, but to me it immediately called to mind the ambient noise an airplane makes. I loved the effect for Kate's hearing-loss. I found it disorienting.
3. Josh Holloway's acting was actually quite good during Juliet's second death scene. Sorry, any Sawyer fans on my flist, but I have never really been that impressed with him. But his devastation over Juliet has been quite good.
4. Juliet. Oh, Juliet. There were some times...like pretty much after you joined the Losties...where I thought, you used to be awesome, and now you're sort of lame. But I still loved you, because you were Juliet. So I'll miss you. How awesome an actress is Elizabeth Mitchell, seriously? And I really have to give her and Josh Holloway massive props for making me tolerate and even enjoy Suliet, a ship that I had always despised until they sold it so well.
5. I was just starting to like Bram. Oh well. Ilana is growing on me a bit as well, and she's still alive.
6. Was it just me, or did Miles look really hot in this episode? I mean, obviously he's a good-looking guy, but he seemed especially good-looking suddenly. Speaking of Miles, I loved his attempt at being sympathetic to Sawyer.
7. Hurley had some pretty good lines. I love the snippets of his phone conversation at the airport taxi line that you can make out. Presumably he's lucky because the island is underwater...did he not win the lottery with the Numbers?
8. Jin is a douche again, and Sun...doesn't speak English? I love how contrived that scene is, where rather than the customs people getting an interpreter, they take Jin away and heavy-handedly ask Sun if she speaks any English. Ah, television.
9. Desmond on the plane? Charlie was supposed to die? Jack only got one bottle?!
10. Everyone did a really good job of playing their season 1 characters in the flash-sideways. Uh, well, maybe except Josh Holloway. I liked him loads better in the flash-sideways than I ever did in season 1. He was so much more amiable and funny.
11. I hate the idea that Sayid is Jacob. I want Sayid to be the new leader of the Others, who are currently leaderless, what with Locke being...well, the Smoke Monster. Smokey, after all, did not take over Locke's body, he created a copy. I wonder if what happened to Sayid is related to what happened to Christian (I have to assume there is a relationship) and how similar the two resurrections are. To me it's pretty significant that Miles is weirded out -- presumably because he can't hear Sayid? Can anyone think of any other characters who have got the Jesus imagery treatment, besides Ben?
I feel as though there are parallels between Sayid and Ben that I can't articulate very well, and it would just be cool if Sayid became the Others' leader. Cool and fitting because of the parallels.
12. The Temple is cheesy. Sorry.
13. Jacob = Anubis, Smokey = Ammit? No, that's giving the writers way too much credit. Also it's a bit lame.
14. Richard was in chains. At first I was like, 'Metaphorical or literal?' But I pretty firmly believe now that they're literal. So Richard was...a time traveling Roman slave on the Black Rock. Right.
15. Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson were amazing in this episode. The 'Locke was pathetic' scene? Officially one of my favourite scenes in the history of the whole show. And there aren't that many on the list. I loved the way light became such a major part of that scene. I love how Terry is sort of playing Locke, but there's this creepy undercurrrent to the whole thing. So good.
16. Ben. I could just leave it at that, because I loved every single brief moment that Ben was on screen, but I rather want to rhapsodise about him.
The man is broken. And it's such a beautiful performance to watch. Ben really didn't have many lines in the whole two hours, but what he does with his eyes is absolutely amazing. In the aforementioned 'Locke is pathetic' bit, I love how Ben is kind of snarky when he thinks Smokey's talking about Jacob, but his entire demeanor changes when he realises the conversation is about Locke. Maybe I'm seeing what I want to see, but he just seems like he's in such pain about killing Locke.
I really liked the scene between Ben and Richard. I've never given much thought to their relationship before, for some reason. But it's actually one of Ben's longest relationships with another person. And I think I'm going to have to start writing about that.
Smokey sort of did make Ben kill Jacob. I mean, he didn't hold onto Ben's arm while he stabbed Jacob, but he threatened to kill Ben if he didn't do exactly what he wanted him to. I wonder if we're supposed to see a parallel between this and Michael shooting Ana Lucia and Libby in order to free Ben.
I really hope that Ben makes it to the last episode. I know he can't live, and he's now a defeated man who's become little more than a coward, but I love him so much.
So that's it. I'm very excited for the rest of this season.
I have known about the flash-sideways since September or October -- at least, that's when I finally worked out what all these filming updates being both in the airport and on the island meant. So that wasn't a shock for me, and for some reason I haven't been apprehensive about it. I understand people's complaints: that the flash-sideways in essence erase the characters that we've all come to love over the past five seasons. But at the same time, I felt like 'LA X' was a more character driven episode than anything last year (with the exception of 'Some Like it Hoth' and 'The Variable', which, IMO, were the best episodes of the whole season hands down), and I realised, upon our rewatch of season 5, that its lack of character centricity in individual episodes is really why the whole season fell so flat for me. I can remember particular scenes that I loved, but when I think of the episodes that they're from (if I can even remember what episode they're from), I realise that I didn't really enjoy that episode as a whole, only a scene here and there.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I was totally on board with doing something different than what went on last season. And I actually like the idea behind the flash-sideways. This show has been about destiny vs. free will for a long time, so I really love that we're going to explore what aspects of these characters' personalities were inborn and fated, and which were affected by the island's mere existence.
And maybe I'll be wrong on this, but I just don't think that in the end the alt timeline is going to be the 'real' timeline.
So there's my meta thoughts on the structure of the season, and here are my specific thoughts on the episode:
1. We'll start with something I didn't like. These new Temple Others. I mean, great, we saw Cindy and the kids, that's lovely. But these other guys? Seriously, I have Others I like. All the ones you killed, Damon and Carlton. So bring back fucking Mikhail and Klugh and Ethan and Tom and Pickett and...well, you get the idea. Mr 'I-don't-like-the-way-English-tastes-on-my-tongue' can suck it.
1a. Incidentally, I get that he doesn't want to speak English, but you're shouting out orders, dude. Maybe you could do it in English to expedite the process.
2. A couple of the sound effects were great in this episode. I like the new flash sound. Chris thought it was the time-flashing sound, but to me it immediately called to mind the ambient noise an airplane makes. I loved the effect for Kate's hearing-loss. I found it disorienting.
3. Josh Holloway's acting was actually quite good during Juliet's second death scene. Sorry, any Sawyer fans on my flist, but I have never really been that impressed with him. But his devastation over Juliet has been quite good.
4. Juliet. Oh, Juliet. There were some times...like pretty much after you joined the Losties...where I thought, you used to be awesome, and now you're sort of lame. But I still loved you, because you were Juliet. So I'll miss you. How awesome an actress is Elizabeth Mitchell, seriously? And I really have to give her and Josh Holloway massive props for making me tolerate and even enjoy Suliet, a ship that I had always despised until they sold it so well.
5. I was just starting to like Bram. Oh well. Ilana is growing on me a bit as well, and she's still alive.
6. Was it just me, or did Miles look really hot in this episode? I mean, obviously he's a good-looking guy, but he seemed especially good-looking suddenly. Speaking of Miles, I loved his attempt at being sympathetic to Sawyer.
7. Hurley had some pretty good lines. I love the snippets of his phone conversation at the airport taxi line that you can make out. Presumably he's lucky because the island is underwater...did he not win the lottery with the Numbers?
8. Jin is a douche again, and Sun...doesn't speak English? I love how contrived that scene is, where rather than the customs people getting an interpreter, they take Jin away and heavy-handedly ask Sun if she speaks any English. Ah, television.
9. Desmond on the plane? Charlie was supposed to die? Jack only got one bottle?!
10. Everyone did a really good job of playing their season 1 characters in the flash-sideways. Uh, well, maybe except Josh Holloway. I liked him loads better in the flash-sideways than I ever did in season 1. He was so much more amiable and funny.
11. I hate the idea that Sayid is Jacob. I want Sayid to be the new leader of the Others, who are currently leaderless, what with Locke being...well, the Smoke Monster. Smokey, after all, did not take over Locke's body, he created a copy. I wonder if what happened to Sayid is related to what happened to Christian (I have to assume there is a relationship) and how similar the two resurrections are. To me it's pretty significant that Miles is weirded out -- presumably because he can't hear Sayid? Can anyone think of any other characters who have got the Jesus imagery treatment, besides Ben?
I feel as though there are parallels between Sayid and Ben that I can't articulate very well, and it would just be cool if Sayid became the Others' leader. Cool and fitting because of the parallels.
12. The Temple is cheesy. Sorry.
13. Jacob = Anubis, Smokey = Ammit? No, that's giving the writers way too much credit. Also it's a bit lame.
14. Richard was in chains. At first I was like, 'Metaphorical or literal?' But I pretty firmly believe now that they're literal. So Richard was...a time traveling Roman slave on the Black Rock. Right.
15. Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson were amazing in this episode. The 'Locke was pathetic' scene? Officially one of my favourite scenes in the history of the whole show. And there aren't that many on the list. I loved the way light became such a major part of that scene. I love how Terry is sort of playing Locke, but there's this creepy undercurrrent to the whole thing. So good.
16. Ben. I could just leave it at that, because I loved every single brief moment that Ben was on screen, but I rather want to rhapsodise about him.
The man is broken. And it's such a beautiful performance to watch. Ben really didn't have many lines in the whole two hours, but what he does with his eyes is absolutely amazing. In the aforementioned 'Locke is pathetic' bit, I love how Ben is kind of snarky when he thinks Smokey's talking about Jacob, but his entire demeanor changes when he realises the conversation is about Locke. Maybe I'm seeing what I want to see, but he just seems like he's in such pain about killing Locke.
I really liked the scene between Ben and Richard. I've never given much thought to their relationship before, for some reason. But it's actually one of Ben's longest relationships with another person. And I think I'm going to have to start writing about that.
Smokey sort of did make Ben kill Jacob. I mean, he didn't hold onto Ben's arm while he stabbed Jacob, but he threatened to kill Ben if he didn't do exactly what he wanted him to. I wonder if we're supposed to see a parallel between this and Michael shooting Ana Lucia and Libby in order to free Ben.
I really hope that Ben makes it to the last episode. I know he can't live, and he's now a defeated man who's become little more than a coward, but I love him so much.
So that's it. I'm very excited for the rest of this season.