21: Locke and Mr. Eko Discover Pearl Station
Episode: ? (2×21)
While watching season two, my gut was telling me all along that “The Button” was nothing more than a psychological experiment. There were things to throw me off track, including the alarms and whistles sounding when the clock did reach zero, and Henry Gale telling Locke that he never pushed the button.** I love stories about complex conspiracies, and was hoping that the stations were apart of that.
**Of course, we learn later that Henry Gale, or Ben, must have pushed the button. Why would he lie about this? He knows firsthand the kind of shit that can go down if the button isn’t pressed. Why would he lead the group to not want to do it? Ben is messed up, but I don’t even see his logic in that decision.
My appetite was whetted when Pearl station was found. The original Dr. Chang video was sinister as hell, so finding a new one was exciting. Better still, we learn that while the members of the hatch are being watched, the members of Pearl station aren’t exactly divulged all the information either, leaving yet another mystery. Despite this, I never expected the pneumatic tube to lead where it did.
Unfortunately this moment leads to Mr. Eko doing a one-eighty on his goal in life, now becoming lord and master of The Button, reducing the dynamic of the character before he is unceremoniously killed off by the can’t-make-up-my-mind-about-your-purity Smoke Monster. But that doesn’t detract how I felt about the scene at the time.
20: The Other 48 Days
Episode: The Other 48 Days (2×07)
There is no one moment from the episode dedicated to finding out what happened to those in the tail section that stands out to me, except perhaps Bernard hearing Boone’s radio transmission. What I love about this episode is that it was a break from the flashbacks and a break from not caring about Sayid and Shannon. It was a cohesive, easy to follow episode that also added a bit to the character of Mr. Eko.
While I didn’t pick up on Ethan being the kidnapper for our main group, I pretty much picked out Goodwin right away. His interactions with the falsely accused Nathan seem a bit too choreographed. Still, I had a lot of fun watching it go down. Watching Ana Lucia kill Shannon again isn’t bad either.
19. If you say ‘live together, die alone’ to me, Jack…
I’m gonna punch you in the face!
Episode: Through the Looking Glass, Part 1 (3×22)
I wish I had a clip of that moment. By this time in the show, I found Jack as annoying as Rose did. The writers threw those of us who agreed a bone, allowing Rose to deliver one of the best one-liners the show had. I laughed. I almost cheered.
18. Jughead Explodes
Episode: The Incident, Part 2 (5×17)
I never really bought Farraday’s explanation as to how setting off a nuclear bomb at the electromagnetic site would somehow reset the timeline. Still, it was a huge moment for the show, as it really could have gone either way. The confrontation at the site is energized by a bunch of magnetic mishaps, making for a fun action scene. And then Juliet, probably my favorite non-original regular, gets pulled down the shaft.
While I more or less stopped liking Jack sometime during season two, I really enjoy his confrontation with Sawyer, especially since Jack was no longer in power among the group. I bought that Jack passionately believed the bomb needed to be detonated, and I bought that Sawyer believed that would end in tragedy. Having Juliet, who was a much better Jack/Sawyer triangle filler than Kate, have to ultimately make the decision was great. Despite her love for Sawyer, she followed Jack and decided she wanted to reset things, which means she never would have fallen in love with Sawyer. With her last ounce of strength, she detonates the bomb, ending season five.
And, as we find out later, like most characters that try to do a noble thing on the show, she dies in vain.
Death By Troggles 
I love the Chang videos.
Juliet’s death sucked the life out of me. The scene is incredible. Eko’s would have, too, but I ended up having that spoiled for me months before I saw it.
And, yes, the logic gap with Ben saying he didn’t push the button…sigh. Was he lying for the sake of lying or, more likely, was it the writers not realizing that later there would be no reason to keep this secret? This show did that a lot…I think they were primarily introducing threads that they themselves didn’t know the answer to. That’s a dangerous game, because continuity will kill you every time.
By the time she blew up the bomb, Juliet was pretty much my favorite character on the show, having to watch her die (like, three times!) was just… bah.
Linds was SO pissed that Eko was killed off for real, and almost even more upset when he wasn’t in the finale. She loved him even after the Pearl station made him into a button pusher. To be fair, he was pretty awesome.
Adewale Akkinoue-Agbaje (Eko) asked to be killed off. He’s the type of actor who doesn’t want to play the same role for too long. He made the same request on Oz and got the biggest, most badass death on the show.
Right, I remember hearing about that. It still pissed her off.
I wasn’t thrilled either. I love that guy.
They never got to expand on it, but I’m convinced that Rose and (the real) Henry Gale are siblings. Henry’s driver’s license says he was from MN, and Rose at one point said how she was used to driving in snow (or somesuch).
Neat-o!
Yeah, I remember that being developed in such a way that it seemed it was gonna go somewhere with Rose finding her brother or whatnot.