Review of Lost 6.04 - 'The Substitute'
Was there anything I didn't love about this episode? Oh, actually yes -- Smokey-cam. It was just a bit too cheesy for me. But that's a pretty minor quibble. Oh, and I could have done without the cliff-side action sequence, but that's because I just want answers. I do not want time wasted on pointless action! LOL.
1. It was odd and a bit unsettling to see Richard so freaked out. You can't help but feel bad for the guy. He gets punched in the throat, then tied up in a sack in a tree, and then he finds out that Jacob hasn't been keeping him apprised of little details like...why everyone has been brought to the island. I do wonder if he wasn't just pretending not to know, though. It seems strange that something like that would never come up.
2. I called Aaron on the kid. It could be a juvenile Jacob. Or is it...both?
3. Josh Holloway's acting is so much better this season! He was great again in this episode. I love his rage and his fuck-it-all attitude. And his knowing that he wasn't speaking with Locke was lovely -- who better to see through a con than the con-man himself?
4. Was Ilana crying for Jacob? What did he mean to her?
5. I can't wait for the angst when Ilana, Sun, Frank, and Ben get to the Temple and Jin isn't there. Wait, why do I fool myself, they'll never get to the Temple.
6. If I were Sawyer, I'd not have brought up Of Mice and Men again. He got totally pwned last time.
7. I loved, loved, loved Locke's funeral. I loved when Ilana asked, 'Didn't any of you know him?', and there's this implicit realisation there that no, in a way, they didn't know him. Sun and Locke only knew each other through an accident of fate. And then Ben says he knew him, and there's something very true about that. I'm not sure if anyone understood Locke better than Ben did.
It was a very nice moment for Ben, too. I suppose we never really know whether or not Ben's being sincere, but I've always felt that he really meant it when he said he'd miss Locke, and I think he meant what he said in his eulogy.
Chris hated Frank's line ('This is the weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to'), but I thought it was pretty hilarious.
Sun has something on her mind, and she thinks Ilana is going to answer it.
8. Jacob's ladder.
9. Jacob's cave was pretty fantastic. The mandolin thing, the scale, the rocks; I love it.
10. And obviously, WE FREAKING FOUND OUT WHY THEY'RE ON THE ISLAND. I wonder if we'll find out what makes a person a viable candidate. Miles, Juliet, and Ben (assuming the surnames refer to them) were all crossed out while still alive, so it's not death that gets one disqualified. I like to think that there are all these separate groups of people with their own set of cursed numbers.
11. So who's good and who's bad? Right now I see a parallel between Jacob and Ben -- both of them are protecting the island, but they've both done some pretty damn questionable things to do that. The ends justify the means, I suppose, is the expression we have for that. Maybe there will be parallels between Smokey and Widmore?
12. So then, onto the flash-sideways. Locke's flash-sideways was a million times more compelling than Kate's. It's so nice to see him have some happiness. Yes, he's angry and bitter about being paralyzed, but at least he's not angry and bitter about having his kidney stolen, as well.
When he gets home from the airport and falls onto the grass, and the sprinklers come on, I immediately thought of that very iconic scene from S1 where he tilts his head up towards the sky as it rains. No idea if that was intentional or not, but I liked it.
Hurley's lucky, so Locke's wheelchair ramp doesn't hit his Hummer. Incidentally, Hurley has become one of my favourite characters. God, how I used to hate him. Not anymore, dude.
It's nice to have S1 Rose back. I liked her a lot in S1, but I sort of hate her on-island personality.
alt!Ben was a million times more amazing than I ever could have hoped. I knew he was a teacher, but I'd no clue that he was going to be in this episode. I mean, I hoped that he would be, but I thought they might save that reveal for later. And I love that he teachers European History. BEN I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE AWESOME.
1. It was odd and a bit unsettling to see Richard so freaked out. You can't help but feel bad for the guy. He gets punched in the throat, then tied up in a sack in a tree, and then he finds out that Jacob hasn't been keeping him apprised of little details like...why everyone has been brought to the island. I do wonder if he wasn't just pretending not to know, though. It seems strange that something like that would never come up.
2. I called Aaron on the kid. It could be a juvenile Jacob. Or is it...both?
3. Josh Holloway's acting is so much better this season! He was great again in this episode. I love his rage and his fuck-it-all attitude. And his knowing that he wasn't speaking with Locke was lovely -- who better to see through a con than the con-man himself?
4. Was Ilana crying for Jacob? What did he mean to her?
5. I can't wait for the angst when Ilana, Sun, Frank, and Ben get to the Temple and Jin isn't there. Wait, why do I fool myself, they'll never get to the Temple.
6. If I were Sawyer, I'd not have brought up Of Mice and Men again. He got totally pwned last time.
7. I loved, loved, loved Locke's funeral. I loved when Ilana asked, 'Didn't any of you know him?', and there's this implicit realisation there that no, in a way, they didn't know him. Sun and Locke only knew each other through an accident of fate. And then Ben says he knew him, and there's something very true about that. I'm not sure if anyone understood Locke better than Ben did.
It was a very nice moment for Ben, too. I suppose we never really know whether or not Ben's being sincere, but I've always felt that he really meant it when he said he'd miss Locke, and I think he meant what he said in his eulogy.
Chris hated Frank's line ('This is the weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to'), but I thought it was pretty hilarious.
Sun has something on her mind, and she thinks Ilana is going to answer it.
8. Jacob's ladder.
9. Jacob's cave was pretty fantastic. The mandolin thing, the scale, the rocks; I love it.
10. And obviously, WE FREAKING FOUND OUT WHY THEY'RE ON THE ISLAND. I wonder if we'll find out what makes a person a viable candidate. Miles, Juliet, and Ben (assuming the surnames refer to them) were all crossed out while still alive, so it's not death that gets one disqualified. I like to think that there are all these separate groups of people with their own set of cursed numbers.
11. So who's good and who's bad? Right now I see a parallel between Jacob and Ben -- both of them are protecting the island, but they've both done some pretty damn questionable things to do that. The ends justify the means, I suppose, is the expression we have for that. Maybe there will be parallels between Smokey and Widmore?
12. So then, onto the flash-sideways. Locke's flash-sideways was a million times more compelling than Kate's. It's so nice to see him have some happiness. Yes, he's angry and bitter about being paralyzed, but at least he's not angry and bitter about having his kidney stolen, as well.
When he gets home from the airport and falls onto the grass, and the sprinklers come on, I immediately thought of that very iconic scene from S1 where he tilts his head up towards the sky as it rains. No idea if that was intentional or not, but I liked it.
Hurley's lucky, so Locke's wheelchair ramp doesn't hit his Hummer. Incidentally, Hurley has become one of my favourite characters. God, how I used to hate him. Not anymore, dude.
It's nice to have S1 Rose back. I liked her a lot in S1, but I sort of hate her on-island personality.
alt!Ben was a million times more amazing than I ever could have hoped. I knew he was a teacher, but I'd no clue that he was going to be in this episode. I mean, I hoped that he would be, but I thought they might save that reveal for later. And I love that he teachers European History. BEN I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE AWESOME.