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.

25. Ethan Shoots Locke

Episode: Because You Left (5×01)

I’m a sucker for time travel plots, and the first episode of season 5 couldn’t help itself, sending the group through time on multiple occasions. Here, Locke finds himself back at the time when the Nigerian drug plane had recently crashed. I loved Ethan’s character and was delighted to see him back, as evil as ever.  Locke’s desperate attempt to explain himself doesn’t work, and only another convenient travel through time saves him.

24. Locke Tells Richard to Save Locke

Episode: Follow the Leader (5×15)

Let me just get this out of the way now. The “big reveal” where we find out Jeremy Bentham is really John Locke, and that John Locke is dead, is not making the list. While most people don’t know that John Locke and Jeremy Bentham are the names of two real-life philosophers who were huge proponents of social contract theory, the surprise is ruined for the people who do. I knew exactly who was going to be in that coffin because of the name they gave him, and it pissed me off.

Here we get the payoff from the above scene. After getting shot by Ethan and traveling again, Locke is saved by Richard, who gives him a compass to give back to him. When Locke does find Richard again, he gives him the compass. And then he finds himself, and instructs Richard to save him. Beautiful mess-with-your-head paradoxical time travel stuff.

23. Ethan Abducts Claire and Charlie

Episode: Raised by Another (1×10)

This is the episode where Hurley decides he wants to be useful and starts interviewing everyone. To this point, Ethan had been a mildly interesting, mildly helpful side character who I thought might end up playing a more prominent role among the survivors. Hurley shatters all that when he cross-references the flight manifest with his list and realizes that Ethan wasn’t on the plane. One of the reasons I love season one so much is that we almost never know more than the castaways. This moment is a great example, as the “Oh, shit!” realization happens to both Hurley and the viewer at the same moment, as we put all the pieces together.

Of course, before Hurley can round up the troops, we cut to scene where Ethan looms over Claire and Charlie.

::shiver::

22. Charlie Kills Ethan

Episode: Homecoming (1×15)

Ethan had already put Charlie through the ringer, literally, by hanging him and leaving him for dead. Once Claire escapes, Ethan confronts Charlie and tells him that he’s going to kill one person every night until Claire is returned. He makes good on it by killing Steve…err, Scott. The tension is palpable. While Scott wasn’t a well-known character, the writers were pretty much telling the audience that nobody was safe. Also, the fact that Ethan could just kill someone, even though the castaways were preparing for it, revealed how dangerous The Others were and raised a million questions.

When Ethan was captured, I was excited. Perhaps Sayid would torture him and we’d get some answers about The Others we’ve been craving.  Nope.  The writers knew that’s what I’d want, so Charlie, in his desperate attempt to do anything to get Claire to fall in love with him, shot him before any answers could be given.

Earlier this year the wife and I decided to watch Lost on Netflix and plowed through the whole series in about three months. One would think at that pace I would have absolutely loved the show, but sadly that’s not the case. I unequivocally love the first season, but after that it was a roller coaster and more of my memories are annoyance at the writers for dangling plot threads, inconsistent character motivations, and Kate. However, the cliffhangers were usually sufficient for us to keep hitting the play button to see what would happen next.

This countdown (with perhaps one or two exceptions) is highlighting moments instead of full episodes. I felt several episodes that were otherwise lackluster had some good moments, and since continuity is broken so many times for flashbacks, flashforwards, and other Back to the Future II zaniness, the show lends itself to remembering moments more than individual 42 minute blocks.  If I can find readily available video I’ll add them to the posts.

I don’t really want to spend an entire month on this show, so we’ll do two moments a day for two weeks. I’m sure there’ll be a scene or two I completely biff on, but that’s okay. It’s not like I’m reviewing Star Trek.