TV Review: Lost – 316

Posted by Adam Sweeney (adam@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 19, 2009 Share

lost-header

Lost, ABC, Airs Wednesdays 9/8c

Episode: “316″ (Season 5, Episode 6)

Synopsis: The way back to the island is revealed to members of the Oceanic 6, but there’s trouble ahead when not all of them wish to return.

Review: Well, that wasn’t so difficult, now was it? On second thought, maybe the return to Oz didn’t go quite as planned. 316 probably won’t register with some fans as being as exciting as some of the previous fifth season chapters, but the dialogue was much smoother and the message more insightful. It was a more methodical and comfortable pace of storytelling than the breakneck speed we have become used to, and return to the episodes of the first season, full of poignant moments and monologues that revealed the struggle many of our characters dealt with back in reality.

Matthew Fox’s performance was one of the strongest I have seen since the beginning of the show. It’s been a while since the show has focused so intently on one character.

The strength of the show has mainly come in sequences on the island, yet this episode was almost entirely focused on the events happening back home. It was handled well and displayed the merging mentalities of Jack (Matthew Fox) and Locke (Terry O’Quinn), as they both are becoming men of faith. What that faith will bring them remains to be seen.

A quick message to the writers of Heroes: THIS is how you create a show. 316 found a way to bring us full circle, as the flight to Guam was a direct parallel with the opening sequences of the show’s Pilot, and they were able to do it in a clever way. Compare this to the inability for Heroes to stop telling the same story over and over. Don’t worry, we’re not bitter.

Did anyone else get a distinct The Wizard of Oz vibe from the 316 episode. Eloise Hawking’s (Fionnula Flanagan) demand for Jack to offer something of his father’s to Locke’s corpse reveals a bit of a ruby slipper sequence. In order to get home, rather, the island, Jack must put his father’s shoes on Locke to get back.

The opening sequence of 316 caught me off-guard, as I never expected Jack and friends to get back on the island so quickly. “Idiot, they have technically been off the island for two seasons,” you say? Well, allow me to clarify my statement.

The relative ease in which the Oceanic 6 … well, 5 got on the plane was surprising. Let me get this straight, you can’t get any liquid on a plane after 9/11 without nearly having a cavity search, but Jack and friends can bring anything they want on a plane? Wouldn’t you have to phone in advance to get a corpse on the plane? I mean is it that hard to hit up Priceline.com? The way the airline attendant reacted when Jack walked up to the front of the plane was a bit blase as well. “You want to talk to the pilot, sir? Wait just one second. Wait, you’re not a terrorist, are you? Eh, I will trust you. You’re wearing a nice tie.”

It was a bit surprising how quickly the events took place that brought the gang back to the island. Perhaps in future flashbacks, and other contradictory statements, we will find out what everyone else was doing while Jack was preparing for his journey.

Even though we’re back on the island, it doesn’t mean there isn’t unfinished business or questions left to be asked back on the homeland. How and why did Locke meet his sad demise? Who did Benjamin (Michael Emerson) go meet? Penny (Sonya Walger)? Did he get his ass kicked by Desmond? (Henry Ian Cusick) Why the hell is Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) in Dharma Initiative clothing? What happened to Aaron (William Blanchette)? Why is Kate (Evangeline Lilly) so hot and bothered after losing her “adopted” child? We demand answers for all of these … and we’re fairly confident we will get them.

P.S. We miss the polar bears on the island. Just saying.

Up Next Week: Locke’s fateful mission off the island as Jeremy Bentham is revealed.

Did you watch the 316 episode? What are your thoughts and theories? We have a right to know!

Related Posts with Thumbnails


Read more articles by Adam Sweeney

« Previous Article | Next Article »

Related Topics:

Lost Recap, TV for Movie Lovers, , , , ,

Your Ad Here

Comment Policy: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Film School Rejects reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. We also reserve the right to modify any curse words in your comments and make you look like an idiot. Thank You!

  • The nice thing about lost is that its got an end planned out already. There's only 27 episodes left. In fact, I wish the show would meander and slow down a bit, but they can't because they need to conclude everything in such limited time and space. (pun intended).
  • This will probably be one of the shows I buy on DVD to watch. But for now, I'm truly lost.(lol
  • I know what you're talking about. It does look a lot like her, but it seems it could just be an extra that happens to have similar features. But, I'm going to have to keep that in mind just in case.
  • I admire all of you for hanging in there and watching this show. It reminds me of The X-Files. I just could not take how the story dragged and dragged. My honey begged me to watch this episode with him. They must have listened to people saying that the series was needlessly meandering. I know some of you will take offense to that. (lol)
  • I admire all of you for hanging in there and watching this show. It reminds me of The X-Files. I just could not take how the story dragged and dragged. My honey begged me to watch this episode with him. They must have listened to people saying the series was needlessly meandering. I know some of you will take offense to that. (lol)
  • Anyone else think they saw claire at the airport, or at least some one that looked almost the same. Jack seems to notice her and then gets distracted by seeing Sun.
  • Anyone else think they saw claire at the airport, or at least some one that looked almost the same. Jack seems to notice her and then gets taken back bu seeing Sun.
  • The polar bears! I have a theory about the polar bears, the Dharma initiative seems to have been using them down at the time wheel because that polar bear skeleton (with the DI collar) Charlotte found in the desert was around the same area as where Ben was turfed out to when he moved the island.

    Also, I think the Kate craziness may have been tied to a flashforward she had at the end of season 4, where she woke up to find Claire in Aaron's room. Claire yelled at her never to bring Aaron back to the Island, so perhaps Claire realised they were all about to leave for the Island and decided to warn Kate not to bring him back with her. Kate's mom's not actually dead (as far as I remember) yet, but she never wanted her to be in Aaron's life, so maybe Claire's apparition left Kate with no other options than to leave him with her mother? After the interaction Kate's had with her mother, that would be pretty upsetting, not to mention having to leave her "son" behind and never see him again.
  • His mom died giving birth to him though, so if that's not just sarcasm then could there be more Ben story to be told?
  • nice pic dude
blog comments powered by Disqus