Season Two is not one of my favorite seasons. I guess I won't be sure where to place it until after I've re-watched the first five, but I'm going to guess it'll be either my second or absolute least favorite. The success of Lost rides in it's ability to keep viewer's engaged in the Island's mysteries and in the characters emotional journeys. Season Two focused a bit too much on the Mystery of the Hatch and the character bickering was tiresome. Not only were Locke and Jack constantly feuding, but Charlie drifts dangerously close to unlikable.
New Characters
Although I somewhat resented the time it took to get to know the slew of new characters presented this season, almost all of them are welcome additions, like Desmond, Mr. Eko, Libby, and "Henry Gale." One is a triumphant annoyance: Ana Lucia. in true Lost style, Ana was presented in such a way that the audience was supposed to have a strong (negative) reaction to her, that would then be questioned once her back-story was revealed. However, learning Ana's story that she had been shot in the abdomen, resulting in the loss of her pregnancy, really didn't do much in reducing my hatred of her. The massive backlash against Ana was so powerful that the writers made a last minute decision to kill Libby off as well as Ana in "Two for the Road" in order to create the necessary emotional-blow.
I have to say, I'm sticking to my guns about my theories regarding Kate/Jack/and Sawyer. In this episode Kate attacks Jack for his goodness and is mad knowing that she'll "never be good" like him. She also addresses the fact that Sawyer reminds her of the ugliest parts of her - the fact that she can have murder in her heart because step-dad was actually dad-dad. But the fact that Sawyer represents who she really is and Jack is what she "just ain't" is a pretty good predictor in my book about with whom Kate'd have the most successful relationship. Take that sentence structure and basic grammar!
Although I somewhat resented the time it took to get to know the slew of new characters presented this season, almost all of them are welcome additions, like Desmond, Mr. Eko, Libby, and "Henry Gale." One is a triumphant annoyance: Ana Lucia. in true Lost style, Ana was presented in such a way that the audience was supposed to have a strong (negative) reaction to her, that would then be questioned once her back-story was revealed. However, learning Ana's story that she had been shot in the abdomen, resulting in the loss of her pregnancy, really didn't do much in reducing my hatred of her. The massive backlash against Ana was so powerful that the writers made a last minute decision to kill Libby off as well as Ana in "Two for the Road" in order to create the necessary emotional-blow.
Repeated Lines:
Add Mr. Eko to the "Don't tell me what I can't do!" club!
Favorite Moments:
- The Rose and Bernard reunion, of course! It was great knowing that Rose's gut was right all along and that her husband was, in fact, alive. It's also great for the 'shippers out there (hello: me!) to have a stable relationship to enjoy.
- The Orientation film: what a creepy, weird scene! I love a great big WTF moment on Lost, and this true introduction to the Dharma Initiative is one of my favorites.
- In the episode "The Hunting Party," we get a nice chat from a bearded Tom. This is another one of those truly game-changing moments in Lost: there's no denying from here on out that our castaways are not alone on the Island. And that "Light them up!" shout, revealing that our castaways are surrounded by Others with torches is a truly exciting, nerve-wracking scene.
- Knowing who "Henry Gale" really is makes watching the episodes with him trapped in the ammo room so much more enjoyable. My favorite scene of his is watching him react to Eko's redemption speech in "Maternity Leave," complete with his slack jawed reception of Eko's beard trimmings. Although Ben prides himself on always sticking to a plan, he lets a genuine "oh shit - this be crazy" face slip-out.
Favorite Episode:
It was hard for me to pick a favorite episode from this season. Although many episodes contained great moments, the episode as a whole was often tainted by endless Ana Lucia hating, or Locke vs. Jack grumblings (which were important for defining these characters, but a bit exhausting).
I'm going to go ahead and pick "What Kate Did." Here was an episode with a nice answer to a mystery, as well as some relationshippy goodness, and some more mystery with the appearance of Kate's black horse and Michael IMing "Walt" on the computer.
I have to say, I'm sticking to my guns about my theories regarding Kate/Jack/and Sawyer. In this episode Kate attacks Jack for his goodness and is mad knowing that she'll "never be good" like him. She also addresses the fact that Sawyer reminds her of the ugliest parts of her - the fact that she can have murder in her heart because step-dad was actually dad-dad. But the fact that Sawyer represents who she really is and Jack is what she "just ain't" is a pretty good predictor in my book about with whom Kate'd have the most successful relationship. Take that sentence structure and basic grammar!
Trivia:
Creator and Executive Producer Damon Lindelof confirmed the Hatch's hieroglyphics mean "Underworld" in Egyptian.
A glass eye was found by the Tailies along with the bible and the radio. Did you know the world's "first glass eye" was supposedly found in a tomb containing a backgammon game? (See Season One)
We hear Mama Cass's "Make Your Own Kind of Music" a lot in Season Two. While vacationing at the Virgin Islands, Mama Cass was hit on the head by a falling copper pipe and claimed that after the incident her vocal range had increased by three notes.
The Dharma Initiative logo incorporates the "ba gua" Chinese symbol, which represents eight interrelated concepts such as wind, water, mountain, and earth.
Questions:
The Smoke Monster: In Season One it ate the Pilot immediately. Then it showed Locke a brilliant white light. Then in this season it shows Eko flashes from his past. Certainly the monster behaves differently based on with whom it's interacting. What drives the Monster's behavior?
Libby: Libby was shown in the same mental institution as Hurley. What's the deal there, especially considering she said she was a psychologist?
Walt: We hear from Ms. Klugh some interesting hints at Walt's talents (teleportation?), and we've gotten the idea that he can kill birds when he's angry and throw a mean knife. Certainly he has some special abilities that I'd love to have explained.
The Pearl Station: What was the experiment being monitored? Was it watching people push the button over in the Hatch? Or was it watching them take their shots? Or was the experiment, like Desmond hinted, the other way around and the monitors were actually the test-subjects?
That's more than enough on that. Hope you took something away of value to help you with your own Lost theorizing!
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