First and foremost, I have to agree with the numerous other reviews, comments, etc. that I’ve read in stating that Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson are beyond compelling as Locke and Linus. However, with all of that aside, I should now return to the Matthew Fox bashing…(Only Joking) Well, sort of. I’ll admit that I didn’t enjoy the two and a half minute scene with Jack and Locke in the hospital. However, that Jack alluded to the fact that he’d heard all of this “destined to return” malarkey before, and that Locke tried to say that it was fate that had conspired to bring them together hints more at poor editing (ie: removal of Locke’s previous visit to Jack) and poor writing (why on earth didn’t Locke explain that he was drawn to seek out Helen-who happened to be buried in West L.A. in response to Jack’s cart-blanche refusal of Locke’s belief that it was simply a matter of probability?). And perhaps, we could even point to the director with regards to Jack’s attempt at a Guiness World Record for most emotions portrayed in a single minute when Locke mentioned his father, however, giving some credit here – could we not simply put this down to Jack’s ambivalence regarding such news? Back to the story. Walt’s involvement (or lack thereof) surprised me a little, however, he was used rather nicely as a spoiler for a future conflict, presumably between Locke and the survivors of the most recent plane crash. All in all, despite the glaring obviousness of knowing a large extent of what would happen beforehand, this was a relatively good show. By no means am I stating that this episode scaled the heights of episode five of this season, let alone previous season’s high points, but if the last few days and my brief step back from the world of Lost has taught me anything, it’s that the last two seasons of Lost appear to have been written as an entertainment rollercoaster. Sure there are, and will be more, highs, and plenty of lows to go with it. This episode once again felt like a steady climb, and for once during the visual ascent, we were provided with some information which seems to have some bearing going forwards – which can only be a good thing – so long as the writers deliver, and we get more action and more explanations in the coming episodes.
