At some point during tonight's Lost, I found myself explaining various theories of time travel to one of my fellow viewers, and getting really excited about it in the process. And that's what I realized that Lost is heading straight into my geek wheelhouse. A time-traveling island, with all the paradoxes and issues within it, is probably the most complicated plot they've tackled yet-- and the one with the most potential to be awesome!
So welcome back! The two episodes of tonight's premiere spent a lot of time flying around through space and time, much like the island itself. Some characters only had cameos, some had entire action-adventure plots over the course of the two hours, but everyone got a minute or two-- including some old favorites! So let's run it down by character, in rough chronological order.
Dr. Marvin Candle
Like two season-openers before it, "Because You Left" opened with a stranger's morning routine-- waking up at 8:14 a.m. (the numbers!), taking care of his baby, and eventually going to work, where he was recording Dharma instructional videos. Hi, doc! Unfortunately he's interrupted by the Dharma minions doing construction on the Orchid station, where they've discovered the frozen donkey wheel Ben used to reset the island. Candle warns them that there's some serious time travel powers in there that they can't unleash, and as if to prove the point, Daniel Faraday strolls by, posing as a Dharma guy. If you're too confused right now, then take a moment, because it only gets weirder from here.
Jack
He and Ben are off on their magical mystery tour, starting where they left off at the Hoffs-Drawlar funeral home, figuring out what the hell to do with Jack. They're sharing a hotel room and seem ready to leave town, but Ben gives Jack a reprieve to go pack up his things and prepare to leave town -- "Because you're never coming back." Jack, completely against his usual stubborn ass ways, goes along with it-- guess these last few years really have been rough, with the pill-popping and the scraggly beard-growing and all.
Locke
One moment, he was standing with his new Other friends and preparing to be the leader-- then Ben moved the island, a bright light flashed, and they were all gone. First Locke climbs a hill in time to witness the yellow drug plane, carrying Mr. Eko's brother Yemi, crash in the forest. Locke goes over to investigate, climbing up to the plane just like Boone did back in season one, and is shot by none other than Ethan, who is looking very, very suspicious. Locke, in his usual way, figures it out immediately-- he's gone back in time. But before he can wriggle his way away from Ethan, the island does it for him-- the light flashes again, and sudden Richard Alpert is there, helping Locke tend his gunshot wound and handing his a compass, saying Richard won't recognize him next time they see each other. He still won't tell Locke "when" he is. But he does helpfully explain that everyone else has to come back to the island, and to make that happen Locke has to die. Of course.
Kate
Still living in that big-ass house with toddler Aaron, though not for long-- when some guys in suits show up wanting DNA tests to prove she's Aaron's mom, she hightails it, but gets no further than a gas station parking lot before realizing she has no idea what to do next. Luckily she gets a phone call that gives her somewhere to go for the time being... but we'll get to that.
Daniel Faraday
After the flash, he and the other rafties are left floating in the ocean, with the island still in sight -- "We must have been inside the radius," he mutters to himself. Way to be the only one who knows what's going on! He makes it back to the island to meet up with Sawyer, Juliette, Rose, Bernard, Vincent and the various other Lostaways, and uses a series of nifty metaphors to explain what's happening. This part is important, so listen up. First of all, the island is skipping like a record, careening into one time and then off into another without real warning, except that super-bright light. But once they're back in whatever time period, time is like a string-- you can move up and down, but you can't start a new one, which means you can't change anything. No banging on the hatch door to get Desmond to give you some food, for example. Except maybe Faraday is going to do that anyway.
Desmond
Faraday lets everyone go back to the beach, and stays back to bang on the hatch door until Desmond, in the yellow Haz-Mat suit, answers the door. "Are you him?" he asks, making me wait for the snowman password joke (it didn't come). Instead Faraday tells him, frantically, that he and everyone else Desmond left on the island are in trouble, and Desmond needs to go to Oxford, find Faraday's mom, and tell her about it. The island flashes and moves before Faraday can get into too many details, but three years later, on the rescue yacht with Penny, Desmond wakes up with a start. Soon he realizes what he remembers, and tells Penny he has to go find Daniel's mom. Looks like our images of Penny and Desmond living happily ever after aren't exactly happening.
Hurley and Sayid
The unlikeliest duo of assassins is on the run after Sayid busted Hurley out of Santa Rosa, and even before Sayid can get Hurley to his "safe house," they're already under attack by assassins. Who the hell are these guys? No telling, but it might have something to do with the fact that Sayid is not on Ben's side anymore, not even a little. Sayid is hit with a tranquilizer dart, and Hurley drags him into the car, driving away to figure out where to go next. Sayid has killed three of the assassins, but thanks to the vagaries of a dude with a camera phone, Hurley is getting called the murder suspect on the news. Like Kate, he has no clue what to do. A cop pulls him over for driving like a crazy person, but just when you think he's screwed-- it's Ana Lucia! "What if I were real?" she asks him, offering sage advice on how to evade the authorities and help Sayid. They hide out with Hurley's parents for a while, where he confesses the lies of the Oceanic Six to his mom. She says she believes him, but who knows. Eventually they get Sayid to a doctor, who of course, is Jack. Hurley's mom also wonders briefly why there's a dead Pakistani on her couch, which is hilarious.
Sun
Still rocking the power suit and travelling all over the world, Sun is stopped at the airport by Charles Widmore, who wants her to elaborate on those "common interests" she mentioned when she accosted him in London at the end of last season. She explains that they're both interested in killing Ben Linus. Hmmm.... Before she goes all assassin, though, she goes to L.A. and meets up with Kate, who is still apologetic for letting Jin die, and who Sun might be forgiving, or might already be torturing and filleting in her mind. Only time will tell.
Sawyer and Juliette
It's important to note that, through more than half of tonight's two-hours, Sawyer was not wearing a shirt. He wasn't wearing one when the island moved, you see, and it's hard to track down clothing when the island keeps moving around you. But Sawyer and Juliette are among the Losties who are actually keeping their heads with all the time travel, even though Sawyer nearly loses it when Daniel tells him he can't bang on the hatch and get Desmond to answer. It's clear that losing Kate-- he thinks she died on the blown-up freighter-- is killing Sawyer. But he and Juliette make a good time as the group tries to survive, and even when they're suddenly assaulted by flaming arrows being shot out of the woods. Whoah! They all run away, but Sawyer and Juliette get separated from the group, and soon they're under attack from some dudes with British accents. I was figuring they'd be saved by another island time-flash, but instead the other guys are killed by a knife to the back. Yup, Locke is there to save them! It'll be interesting to see how this trio handles things from here.
Frogurt
Remember Neil/Frogurt, the random redshirt who has popped up in an episode or two, and was at one point competing with Hurley for Libby's affections? Well in this episode he was being a major whiny bitch, complaining about Bernard's inability to build a fire, Sawyer's accent, and being really, really unhelpful. Then he got shot in the chest by one of the mystery flaming arrows, and burned up. Serves you right for being a Negative Nancy, you douchebag!
Ben
And to wrap up, we have the man behind the curtain. When he leaves Jack he goes to visit a woman named Jill at a butcher shop, who seems entirely aware of Ben's plans to bring everyone together to head back to the island. Apparently her job is to hang on to Locke's corpse, and take good care of him, "because if you don't, then everything we're about to do won't matter at all." Ben leaves there to track down Hurley, who's under house arrest with the LAPD lurking outside his door, He's there to convince Hurley to come with him, that he's got Jack and Sayid on his side and they're all going to go back to the island. He's making it sound like they'll go live in paradise forever, which Hurley sees right through-- he runs out the door and turns himself in to the police, which does not please Ben at all. In the last scene of the episode, Ben goes to meet with none other than Mrs. Hawking, the Other/the ring lady who explained time travel to Desmond, who explains that he has 70 hours to get everyone back to the island, whether they're all together or not. And if he can't do it? "God help us all."
Little things I loved
Hurley buying a T-shirt that said "I [Heart] Shih Tzus" at a gas station when he was evading the police.
Ana Lucia telling Hurley "Oh, and Libby says hi."
Sayid killed one of the assassins in the hotel room by tossing the guy into the open dishwasher, which was filled with knives.
Miles, traveling through time with Faraday and the rest, continuing to be a smarmy jerk whom you can't help but love.
Hurley's dad, a.k.a. Cheech, making what appears to be a salami-and-caviar sandwich.
When Jack successfully resuscitates Sayid, Sayid immediately leaps up and grabs Jack's throat. Killer instincts!
Hurley, upon seeing Ben in his kitchen, throwing a Hot Pocket at the wall. I guess Hurley really was the highlight of the episode.
I haven't even wrapped my mind around all the possible directions this season can go, so no speculation from me here. But what an episode! It may be foolish, but I'm feeling great things from this season.
