Lost 2.8: "Collision"

Written by Leonard Dick and Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Directed by Stephen Williams

In which Ana holds Sayid hostage in the wake of her accidental shooting of Shannon, and as her allies abandon her, Jack and the others get a rude awakening about the raft and their lives…


Status Report

Just when it seems like the introductory phase of the season is over, the writers tack on another episode worth of angst and delay to the process. Granted, they have plenty of time to work with, and some important conflicts are raised during the episode, but the time has come to trigger those conflicts in earnest.

Airing this episode just prior to the holiday (Thanksgiving in the US) may not have been the best idea, if only because the ratings suggest that many people were on the road or otherwise unable to catch the episode. (Some speculate that the focus on Ana Lucia was the cause for the dip in ratings, but that just betrays a complete lack of understanding when it comes to ratings. If it was a response to creative choices, then it was a response to the previous episode!)

The structure of the episode seems designed for two purposes: to give Ana and Sayid something in common, for the purposes of delaying the confrontation that must inevitably occur between them, and to highlight the differences between the two tribes. A lot of fans are missing the entire point of Ana’s less-than-positive introduction over the past several episodes: she’s not supposed to be liked. This is a character at a serious low point, a person struggling with a steady but unending loss of control.

The writers intentionally didn’t show Ana before her shooting incident, because it’s far more interesting to see the process of change that is clearly coming over the course of the season. Much like Jin and Sawyer, Ana starts out as a villain, someone to hate. The fact that she was a cop who lost her child during a shooting incident doesn’t change that. What it does do is establish why she assumed that Sayid would try to kill her.

Ana’s history suggests a form of tunnel vision: Ana no longer has perspective to see past her own emotional issues. She can’t imagine anyone understanding her point of view, and so she can’t trust anyone else to see to her best interests. Nor can she imagine anyone in a similar situation making a different set of choices. She killed the man who killed her baby, so in turn, she can’t understand why Sayid wouldn’t kill her for killing Shannon.

The fact is, he might have done so, if he hadn’t been forced to think things through and consider a more civilized response. That doesn’t mean that the rest of the JackLocke Tribe is going to be so willing to set aside vengeance and hatred. Certainly Jack is going to have issues! That ought to be interesting to watch, considering that Jack is likely to take the pragmatic approach and treat her like a wolf among the fold.

On the other hand, Ana is primed for a redemptive character arc. The writers have covered the downward spiral: loss of child, vengeance killing, plane crash, etc. It all culminates in what could be seen as a form of attempted suicide when she gives Sayid the chance to kill her. If Sayid wasn’t a man with his own demons, she might have gotten her wish. So now, where does she go from here?

Locke might have a few ideas about that, but he might have his own issues to deal with, now that his role as “shaman” involves competition. Eko seems to be cast in the same mold as Shepherd Book from “Firefly”: a man who understands violence but has turned to God for a new way of life. In that sense, he probably would champion the moral precepts of an ideal Christianity, which would not fit very well with Locke’s more naturalistic faith.

For example, Eko’s choices seem to be more aligned with doing the right thing for those in need, not what would be best for Eko. It speaks to a certain religious archetype: the spiritual leader who lives for the welfare of his people, not as a pseudo-avatar for his deity. Locke, on the other hand, has a belief system that revolves almost entirely around his own sense of destiny. He assigns meaning to events based on what he needs them to signify. It’s a very self-serving brand of spiritualism.

As the writers mentioned in the podcast for this episode (another reason for the delay of this review), the trick was to get the survivors from the raft and the new characters into the world of the JackLocke Tribe without resorting to an endless series of exposition dumps. This is where Ana’s breakdown comes in handy: people are running around far too much to ask questions. This also allows the characters to make split-second decisions that represent changes in the status quo.

Jack and Kate begin the episode playing golf, which couldn’t be a more perfect example of how much better they’ve had it over the AnaLucia Tribe. Sure, they’ve dealt with tragedy and there’s been hardship, but overall, the JackLocke Tribe has had it easy. Imagine Ana’s reaction to the apparent comforts of the caves, the hatch, and a set of golf clubs. In comparison, the JackLocke Tribe has been living at a resort with crappy service. There’s even a tent set aside for romantic getaways now!

But then Eko comes along with Sawyer over his shoulders, and things get complicated. Suddenly Jack is forced to choose between being the leader/doctor and being Kate’s potential love interest. The writers reiterate in the podcast what has been readily apparent since the very beginning: Jack and Sawyer embody two sides of Kate’s ideal man, and she doesn’t know what to do about that. Jack doesn’t either, which clearly doesn’t help his mood.

Even so, when it comes to dealing with Ana and the apparent hostage situation, Jack’s first response is to get armed. Contrast this with the Jack seen in the first season; Jack used to be a lot more concerned about using a gun. Indeed, this is an interesting plot point. Previously, there was a limited ability to enact easy violence; now, it’s all too easy. There’s every reason to believe that use of the weapons will become an issue if Jack’s leadership is threatened by future incursions by the Others.

There were a few drawbacks. The same plot structure that kept the episode from becoming an endless exposition dump also prevented the writers from delving too deeply into the less prominent characters. As much as the writers needed to get Kate back into the plot, now that Sawyer has returned, her initial favorable attitude with Jack doesn’t quite track with her attitude from “Orientation”. After all, only a few days have passed on the island; shouldn’t she still be angry with him?

Yes, there are some nice reunions (Jin/Sun and Rose/Bernard), and now that all the players are on the same side of the island, the focus should return, but there wasn’t much time for the smaller character beats this time around. That takes something away from the episode, and since the focus remains on one of the new characters, there’s the inevitable feeling that the existing characters are being ignored to a certain extent.

At the same time, it’s hard to imagine how that could have been avoided. The season is only eight episodes old, and nearly half of that material was the premiere itself. There hasn’t been much time, given the established pacing, to flesh out the story. So much time needed to be spent on the other side of the island, and that left little for the existing cast, beyond establishing the conflicts within the tribe as a result of the first season finale. So the problem was really living with the consequences of the decision to introduce the other side of the island and the new tribe.

That doesn’t mean that time has been wasted. It just means that the writers should use the next phase of the season arc to focus on the fundamentals and return some depth to the story. The emotional resonance between Ana and Sayid was a good start. If the promos are to be believed, the next episode will bring Kate and her emotional issues back into the forefront, which should force many of the conflicts on the table to escalate. Placing Ana into a more organic role within the existing tribe, in terms of her issues, should also help the audience see her as less of an intrusion.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode might finally represent the end of the introductory phase of the season arc, since the two tribes are now reunited and the conflicts for the rest of the season are effectively established. While some might find it annoying to have another episode with such a strong focus on Ana Lucia, her character’s descent should serve to place conflicts in context and keep things fresh. What the series needs, however, is a return to the layered storytelling that made it unique.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10