Lost Double Dose: The Other Woman and Ji Yeon

Once again real life has stood in the way of me writing timely Lost reviews. Damn you responsibility! Luckily I was still able to watch the past two episodes, and on top of that, I was able to formulate opinions about them. Whuda thunk it?

First up is....

The Other Woman

This episode had the misfortune of following up the greatness that was "The Constant". Which means that inevitably, it was going to be a let down. The flashbacks themselves were a bit melodramatic, but also very informative in the manner that they shed more light on the creepiness of Ben. It think that it's now very well established that Juliet has every reason to want Ben dead, and even more reason to want to get off of the island. Harper, the new Other, was sort of clumsily introduced (not nearly as inept as Nikki and Paulo), and her appearance and disappearance in front of Jack was a little much for me. I guess the Losties are so used to random events happening, that some chick vanishing before their eyes isn't that big of a deal anymore. Just ask Ghost Walt.

What did work very well in this episode was every scene that Terry O' Quinn and Michael Emerson shared together (Ben and Locke). The conversations written for these two deserve truckloads of Emmy's. The way Ben underhandedly manipulates Locke is fun to watch, except this time Locke had something to come back with, as he had convinced Miles to start talking (A grenade in your mouth will tend to do that). Their conversation led to what is one of the biggest revelations so far this season, and that is that Penny's father, Charles Widmore, is the man after Ben, and also the island itself. Tie this together with Charlotte and Daniel's interest in the island (they were hand picked by Widmore for their expertise) and what a wonderful web Lost is weaving.

The Other Woman told a mildly interesting Juliet story that if nothing else painted a clearer picture of the true strength that Ben possesses. This was meant to make us as the audience question Ben's motives in revealing sensitive information to Locke. Faraday and Charlotte continue to be in a morally grey area as well. In one scene they are pistol whipping fools (Kate), and in the next scene they are saving those same fools lives. The gas they deactivated also serves as another reminder as to how crazy Ben is, hence to weight put on the closing scene with Ben walking free in Othertown. Intriguing. Indeed.

8/10 (extra point for the Widmore reveal alone)


Next up is......

Ji Yeon

(The date of Jin's death is the same date of the crash of 815)

Don't get me wrong, Sun and Jin's back story has always been one of my favorites, but the first 45 minutes of this episode were borderline sappy. The reveal that Sun and Jin made it off the island was interesting, everything on the freighter was awesome (especially the speech the Captain gave about Widmore) , and Juliet stabbing Sun in the back by telling Jin that she was indeed, a triflin' hoe. All of this was fun, nice and entertaining, then the last 15 minutes happened. It was then that the writer's pulled the rug out from underneath me, and then continued to kick me in the head repeatedly until the credits rolled.

In fifteen minutes, Michael returned (no real shocker there), we realized that we had been watching Sun flash-forward, and a Jin flashback in the same episode, and last but not least, Jin dies. How, when or if are still yet to be determined, but Jin is dead in the future. These revelations in the last fifteen minutes transformed what had been a sappy episode into an excellent piece of storytelling, as Lost continues to find new ways to reinvent itself here during the course of Season four.

9.5/10

This weeks episode is the last before a four week break. It's titled "Meet Kevin Johnson" and will be a Michael flashback story. The next new episode is April 24th, when Lost will return with a new time slot, Thursdays at 10:00. Until then....watch some basketball.