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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Lost Blog: Preface to Season Five

Welcome to The Quad's official "Lost" Blog. After every episode Assistant Entertainment Editor Chris Monigle will share his thoughts. Additionally, Chris and his buddy STEVE will rank their favorite characters. This content is only available here on wcuquad.com. Are you ready to get "LOST?" Right here is every episode recap from the previous eight season five episodes.

Preface: I wrote this paragraph about the first season of LOST after watching the season four finale last May prior to my recap of the season four finale but I think it serves as a good introduction to what the blog is all about. I think the first season is brilliant (and season three is fantastic as is season four. It's been three years and I'm now warming up to season two).

Here it is:

I haven't been able to stop thinking about LOST. I don't even mean simply the finale. The show as a whole has been on my mind. I've been re-watching episodes. I've been reading lostpedia.com, thefuselage.com messageboards, old billie reviews, the bible, and alice in wonderland. I'm not even reading these for theory purposes because I don't really care about theories to be honest with you. I'm refreshing my memory with regards to the past three seasons which is why I'm reading lostpedia, thefuselage, and old billie reviews. I read Doc Jensen's columns over at ew.com because he's great with picking out the allusions to literary texts (which i'm very much interested in). When it comes to theories and all of that jazz, I'm much more interested in waiting to see where the show goes instead of going over theory after theory.

Most of all, I'm most interested in the characters. LOST is a character study/drama at its core and thats what drew me to the show in the first season. The first season is one of the greatest seasons in history of television. Episodes like Walkabout, White Rabbit, The Moth, Confidence Man, Solitary, Raised By Another, Special, Outlaws, ...In Translation, Numbers, Deus Ex Machina, Do No Harm, and the Exodus finale are some of the finest episodes EVER. How can we forget the reveal that Locke was paralyzed prior to crashing on the island? How can we forget the scene when Jack finds his father's coffin empty and proceeds to destroy it as well as the scene in which Jack tells the airport clerk the importance of burying his father? How can we forget the scene between Locke and Charlie when Locke tells Charlie about the moth's struggle and the scene when Charlie battles his way out of the collapsed cave because Jack's arm is dislocated? How can we forget the scene when we learn that Sawyer wrote the letter to the man who ruined his family as well as the scene when Sayid goes to map the Island because he's ashamed of himself because he tortured Sawyer? How can we forget Sayid's first flashback with Nadia? How can we forget Claire's first episode with the psychic Malkin, her reluctance to have Aaron (a great Claire moment, by the way, is in her episode in the second season in which she talks to Aaron after she's been to the Staff station. The moment bridges her season 1 and season 2 flashbacks). How can we forget the struggle Michael endured while he was kept away from Walt (and subsequently the bond the two forged on the Island)? Of course, I have more to write on Michael later in the entry and the story that was his. Who can forget the scene between Christian and Sawyer in the bar or the scene when Sawyer killed the wrong guy? Outlaws also had the great Sawyer vs. the Boar plot. Who can forget the great Jin flashback in which we find out he is ashamed of his lineage? One of the top 7 scenes in LOST is when he returns to his father and they talk on the fishing boat. I will have more to write on Jin later as well. How can we forget Hurley's first flashback in which he travels to Australia to discover whether he's bad luck or the numbers are bad luck? How can we forget the epic scene in which John Locke pounds on the door of the hatch, yelling: 'I've done everything you've ever asked me to do so why did you do this to me?' and then the light goes on inside of the Hatch (we of course later learn that Locke ended up saving Desmond's life that night just as Desmond saved John's. The light gave John more hope and restored his faith in the Island, and Desmond discovered he wasn't alone.) Who can forget the birth of Aaron as Boone dies as well as the flashback of Jack's wedding day with Sarah? Do No Harm is the first episode in which a main character dies. And then there is the Exodus finale in which we see everybody boarding flight Oceanic 815.