We take a brief break from the theater to return to the island. This week's episode of LOST introduced us to four of the people on Naomi's boat, three of whom are billed as regulars. Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies), Miles Straume (Ken Leung), Charlotte Lewis (Rebecca Mader), and Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) are probably the first new characters to have their debut episode also be their first flashback episode (Jack is an exception since he got flashbacks in the pilot, and a "new" character HAD to be given flashbacks). This strategy works really well for these four, since we have been wondering about them since Season 3 ended. While keeping viewers in the dark about the history of characters like Mr. Eko added to their appeal. We knew that Eko was a priest now, but we could tell that he had a dark history that made his motivations and intentions intriguing. However, this same strategy doomed Paulo last year. The creators wanted us to think of him as a bad person until we saw his story in the flashbacks and learned that Nikki was the truly unlikable one. Instead, viewers detested him, and by the time his flashbacks were revealed, he got killed off.
Each of these four new characters got one flashback in the episode, while Naomi got one at the end (hinting at the fact that she's not dead, since one of the rules of LOST is that only living characters get flashbacks). These briefs glimpses into the past both added to the mystery of the show (how did a DHARMA polar bear get to Tunesia?!) and showed us what the four newcomers are like in their real lives. They probably can't be themselves on the island, since they are on a mission and need to disguise their motives to do so. Daniel seems to be an overly sensitive person, but the survivors meet a guy who gets flustered easily. Miles, though, is an asshole in his life, but is crazy on the island.
What the episode does best though, is giving us enough answers to hold us over for another week, while still keeping us in the dark about the deeper implications of the answer we received. One of the other big things we've been thinking about since last year was, if Ben is telling the truth about the true intentions of these people, what possible reason could they have for coming to the island if it is not to rescue the survivors? Turns out they want Ben! Didn't see that one coming. But this tells us why Ben was so afraid of them showing up. We still don't know why they want him, but we can wait another week or two to find that one out.
People predicted that with a set end date, the writers would have a much clearer picture of when they could reveal answers, and it appears that this is true. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a trend that will lead to three very satisfying final seasons.Up next: Back to Sweeney Todd...
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