(Season 5, Episode 1 – “Because You Left” – Season Premiere)
Lost is back, everyone, and it is bringing the thunder! This episode certainly was not a let down, and I was actually surprised at the amount of “meat” that we got in the premiere. There was no easing in to the season, we just dove right in and boy did it feel good. This is still a mystery show, and by no means were all our questions answered, but the season is looking a bit clearer now, isn’t it?
First, some answers to those questions we have all been asking each other this off-season. Yes, the island didn’t just move in space, it moved in time. It turns out our favorite castaways are continuing to bounce around the stream of time on the island. I thought it was awesome getting to see the drug smuggler’s plane crash onto the island, right over Locke’s head. Hopefully we’ll get to see some other historic events on the island.
Also, Daniel was indeed transported along with everyone else on the island even though he was floating on the life raft. I’m glad to see the squirrelly little guy back.
There were also some questions about the role that Desmond was going to be playing this season. Well, I think we can put to rest the notion that Des and Penny will be taking a backseat role to the rest of the cast. I for one am happy to see the jolly time traveler back in the mix. As the only person who is able to affect the past, or perhaps more accurately be affected by the past, he’s the last great hope for the island bound castaways.
There was no shortage of things happening off island as well in the premiere. Ben and Jack are starting their little adventure to get everyone back to the island. With Kate on the run with Aaron, fleeing from sketchy lawyers who seem to know that Aaron is not her kid, she’s not going to be an easy recruit. Ditto Sayid and Hurley who are on the lam, having escaped from a mental institution, leaving at least three bodies in their wake… so far. It’s going to be mighty interesting to see how they all converge, along with Sun, who’s halfway across the planet making deals with Charles Widmore to kill Ben. Oy.
Now, on to some very important nitpicking. If, as appears to be the case, the island folk are bouncing around in time, why did we see the entire island disappear at the end of last season? Why is it that only the castaways are jumping through time and not the Others? If they jumped a month into the past, would they see themselves in the camp? After all, we saw Desmond was still kicking around. The danger with time travel is the unavoidable paradox. I have faith in Lost, but a little clarification would help. What else is new?
Stay tuned in an hour for the second episode’s review….
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Jan 21, 2009 @ 22:00 EST5EDT
don’t forget we saw Daniel back in the time of the Dharma Initiative
No one on the island knows for sure what or who is moving. Ben said he moved the island, so I think the island is moving with everyone on it. The real question is when the first move happened, why did Locke move (with the island) but Richard didn’t, and then Richard showed up later to patch Locke’s leg and he knew everything that was going to happen? It’s like, if the island is a record spinning/skipping through time, Richard is the spindle around which it spins.
Yes, there are certainly a lot of questions left to be answered about the nature of the phenomenon.
At this point, I am inclined to believe that the island moved in space, but this also caused the castaways to start jumping around (skipping like a record) in time.
I would postulate that the Others are somehow immune to the time jumping effects, but Juliet puts a damper on that theory.
So far, the popular theory for avoiding the paradox of potentially meeting themselves is that, with the exception of “special Desmond” they castaways might be the whispers, seeing themselves but unable to interact or react.
Past closed captions for the whispers have included Boone and other dead survivors (there’s a contradiction in terms) among the whisperers. So I’m sticking with the idea that ghosts are possible in connection to the Island.
When Locke was left alone after the first time-shift, I wanted to know why Cindy the flight attendant and the two kids from the tail section weren’t left behind as well. If there’s some “inoculation” that the Others have, why didn’t Juliet have access to it before? She ended up “skipping” along with the 815 survivors.
Ow. My head hurts.