Lost 3.1: "A Tale of Two Cities"
Written by JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof
Directed by Jack Bender
In which Jack, Kate, and Sawyer find themselves at the mercy of the Others, who test and manipulate the survivors to an unknown end…
Status Report
It’s been a long wait for “Lost” fans. Despite a summer filled with a multimedia online “experience” that mixed the fictional world of the series’ mythology with another layer of meta-fictional “reality”, there’s nothing quite like getting that fix of a new episode. The producers, of course, have been trying to get ahead of the inevitable questions about the direction of the show and the possibility of getting answers to long-standing mysteries. Not everyone was satisfied with how the “Lost Experience” was handled, and a lot of fans were dropping the series after becoming frustrated with the pacing.
Some criticisms were valid. The first season, after all, was an unexpectedly literal character study of people under extreme and unusual crisis. Multiple themes were explored, and nearly everything was fresh and exciting. The second season, in contrast, left many fans underwhelmed. Despite the stronger focus on the series mythology, providing vague but intriguing layers of possible conspiracy, the characters were no longer fresh and the story was decompressed. The decision to bring in several red-shirts in the form of the tail-section survivors met heavy resistance. While the second season ended in the right direction, several questions were raised about the viability of the series.
One aspect that was only generally addressed, but was seen as vitally important as early as the middle of the first season, was the idea of the Others. Much has been suggested about their nature and their purpose, but all of that came second or third-hand. In breaking out the third season, the producers and writers have seen this element as a priority, and the promise is that the Others and their motivations will be revealed over the course of the season.
Some might have been looking for an exposition dump, perhaps another “orientation” film that would clearly outline the purpose of the Others and their entire agenda. Frankly, that would be a huge mistake. One of the best elements of “Lost” is the choice to explore character motivations slowly and in depth. It has taken some time to understand the most familiar survivors, and there are still hidden depths to be explored. It makes sense that the writers would explore the Others through their choices and actions instead of dumping the information on the audience in some vain attempt to provide immediate gratification.
It also makes perfect sense to build on the information already in hand. “Henry” is already known to be a master manipulator, and everything about the Others has been deception and illusion. It’s all about perception. The Others continue to control and dominate all interactions. The only way for the writers to be consistent with that portrayal is to maintain the level of manipulation. That means revealing very little to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. The end result, to the frustration of many, is that little is revealed to the audience in the process.
The plot is incredibly simple, yet demonstrates a subtle control over the storytelling. Each of the three survivors has a limited set of experiences with the Others. The audience, in turn, gets to see some of the context surrounding all three scenarios. But beyond that, there is an obvious layer of secrecy; the audience is still only seeing a small portion of the big picture. The audience is really in the middle: they see how the survivors are manipulated, but they themselves are also being manipulated and restricted. The effect is that the audience gets to share, in some small way, what the survivors experience. The audience may not be under direct observation, but the effect is still present.
Each of the three survivors, chosen for some unknown reason by the Others, has an experience tailored to their personality. Jack is, understandably, the primary focus of the episode. It’s no revelation that Jack is stubborn and unable to let anything go. It makes absolute sense that he would be obsessed with knowing who his wife left him for, to the point of accusing his own father. (It’s interesting to note that the writers have been twisting Jack’s story to suggest that his issues triggered his father’s issues. It would explain a lot of Jack’s guilt about his father.)
Juliet plays Jack beautifully. They isolate him in what appears to be the infamous underwater station (an offhand payoff to one of the open first season questions, if taken at face value) and play the classic interrogation game, wearing down his resistance. Everything Juliet told Jack must be questioned, because it was designed to manipulate Jack into surrendering, even if only a little. Some might have found his flashbacks to be redundant, but it was used as a revelation of his surrender. As seen in previous seasons, it’s not always necessary to pave new ground with the flashbacks, if the presentation of that information is revealing in a contextually appropriate way.
The final act, however, brings back one of the central themes of the series. Jack asks Juliet if the Others are the remnant of the Dharma Initiative, and her response is revealing: “it doesn’t matter who we were; it matters who we are”. That is at the heart of the redemptive opportunity offered by the island. As seen in the first season and explored further in the second, there are those willing to take steps towards leaving the past behind and finding a new life, and those unwilling to let go. The survivors who have clung to their old lives have typically encountered serious hardship as a result.
If the Others are related to the Dharma Initiative, then they may still be attempting to finish what Dharma began. As seen in the “Lost Experience”, Dharma was created to change the value of one of the factors in the Valenzetti Equation, a mathematical determination for the extinction of humanity (and something referenced on the “map” from “Lockdown”). Dharma supposedly failed. The Others might be trying to continue the work with the survivors of Oceanic 815. If so, then they likely perceive themselves as a completely different group than Dharma itself.
The Others seem to be pushing Jack, Kate, and Sawyer into taking the leap from who they were to who they are. The logical process would be to push them through the psychological gauntlet of acknowledging the past, letting go, and coming to a sense of self-realization. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer may have been chosen because of their infamous resistance to change and their leadership roles within the JackLocke Tribe.
Jack was isolated and faced with his past, placed in a situation where he would have to give up control, despite his stubborn drive to resist. Kate, on the other hand, was forced to wear a dress and act “civilized”, contrary to her personality, throwing her out of her comfort zone. All the while, she was reminded of her criminal past by the handcuffs she was forced to wear. One would assume that this is just the beginning of her own enforced self-realization process.
Sawyer’s process begins, as one might expect, with humiliating captivity. For someone who values his ability to maneuver in any situation, forging his own destiny, this is a painful scenario. Clearly, the Others used the other “captive” to undermine Sawyer’s confidence, and then tossed Kate into the adjacent cell to determine what that interaction would accomplish. As with Kate, the expectation is that this is only the beginning.
Some might find this episode to be a disappointing beginning to the season, overlooking the fact that a short exploration of the Others and their plans for Jack, Kate, and Sawyer would be less satisfying in the long run. This is a series that works better when exploring the details, and this season premiere is all about the details. If anything, the question is whether or not the rest of the season will deliver on what this episode promises.
(As a sidenote: There is a podcast associated with the various science fiction reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”. Current episodes cover “Lost”, so it might be something of interest. Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com to listen to the show!)
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode is a capable season premiere, introducing one set of plot threads for the third season while reinforcing the primary thematic aspects of the series’ mythology. Some might find the relatively narrow focus and the emphasis on psychological manipulation to be less than inspiring, but trying to cover all the open questions from the second season finale would have resulted in something far too scattershot. Hopefully, the rest of the season will demonstrate why this was a strong beginning.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
Directed by Jack Bender
In which Jack, Kate, and Sawyer find themselves at the mercy of the Others, who test and manipulate the survivors to an unknown end…
Status Report
It’s been a long wait for “Lost” fans. Despite a summer filled with a multimedia online “experience” that mixed the fictional world of the series’ mythology with another layer of meta-fictional “reality”, there’s nothing quite like getting that fix of a new episode. The producers, of course, have been trying to get ahead of the inevitable questions about the direction of the show and the possibility of getting answers to long-standing mysteries. Not everyone was satisfied with how the “Lost Experience” was handled, and a lot of fans were dropping the series after becoming frustrated with the pacing.
Some criticisms were valid. The first season, after all, was an unexpectedly literal character study of people under extreme and unusual crisis. Multiple themes were explored, and nearly everything was fresh and exciting. The second season, in contrast, left many fans underwhelmed. Despite the stronger focus on the series mythology, providing vague but intriguing layers of possible conspiracy, the characters were no longer fresh and the story was decompressed. The decision to bring in several red-shirts in the form of the tail-section survivors met heavy resistance. While the second season ended in the right direction, several questions were raised about the viability of the series.
One aspect that was only generally addressed, but was seen as vitally important as early as the middle of the first season, was the idea of the Others. Much has been suggested about their nature and their purpose, but all of that came second or third-hand. In breaking out the third season, the producers and writers have seen this element as a priority, and the promise is that the Others and their motivations will be revealed over the course of the season.
Some might have been looking for an exposition dump, perhaps another “orientation” film that would clearly outline the purpose of the Others and their entire agenda. Frankly, that would be a huge mistake. One of the best elements of “Lost” is the choice to explore character motivations slowly and in depth. It has taken some time to understand the most familiar survivors, and there are still hidden depths to be explored. It makes sense that the writers would explore the Others through their choices and actions instead of dumping the information on the audience in some vain attempt to provide immediate gratification.
It also makes perfect sense to build on the information already in hand. “Henry” is already known to be a master manipulator, and everything about the Others has been deception and illusion. It’s all about perception. The Others continue to control and dominate all interactions. The only way for the writers to be consistent with that portrayal is to maintain the level of manipulation. That means revealing very little to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. The end result, to the frustration of many, is that little is revealed to the audience in the process.
The plot is incredibly simple, yet demonstrates a subtle control over the storytelling. Each of the three survivors has a limited set of experiences with the Others. The audience, in turn, gets to see some of the context surrounding all three scenarios. But beyond that, there is an obvious layer of secrecy; the audience is still only seeing a small portion of the big picture. The audience is really in the middle: they see how the survivors are manipulated, but they themselves are also being manipulated and restricted. The effect is that the audience gets to share, in some small way, what the survivors experience. The audience may not be under direct observation, but the effect is still present.
Each of the three survivors, chosen for some unknown reason by the Others, has an experience tailored to their personality. Jack is, understandably, the primary focus of the episode. It’s no revelation that Jack is stubborn and unable to let anything go. It makes absolute sense that he would be obsessed with knowing who his wife left him for, to the point of accusing his own father. (It’s interesting to note that the writers have been twisting Jack’s story to suggest that his issues triggered his father’s issues. It would explain a lot of Jack’s guilt about his father.)
Juliet plays Jack beautifully. They isolate him in what appears to be the infamous underwater station (an offhand payoff to one of the open first season questions, if taken at face value) and play the classic interrogation game, wearing down his resistance. Everything Juliet told Jack must be questioned, because it was designed to manipulate Jack into surrendering, even if only a little. Some might have found his flashbacks to be redundant, but it was used as a revelation of his surrender. As seen in previous seasons, it’s not always necessary to pave new ground with the flashbacks, if the presentation of that information is revealing in a contextually appropriate way.
The final act, however, brings back one of the central themes of the series. Jack asks Juliet if the Others are the remnant of the Dharma Initiative, and her response is revealing: “it doesn’t matter who we were; it matters who we are”. That is at the heart of the redemptive opportunity offered by the island. As seen in the first season and explored further in the second, there are those willing to take steps towards leaving the past behind and finding a new life, and those unwilling to let go. The survivors who have clung to their old lives have typically encountered serious hardship as a result.
If the Others are related to the Dharma Initiative, then they may still be attempting to finish what Dharma began. As seen in the “Lost Experience”, Dharma was created to change the value of one of the factors in the Valenzetti Equation, a mathematical determination for the extinction of humanity (and something referenced on the “map” from “Lockdown”). Dharma supposedly failed. The Others might be trying to continue the work with the survivors of Oceanic 815. If so, then they likely perceive themselves as a completely different group than Dharma itself.
The Others seem to be pushing Jack, Kate, and Sawyer into taking the leap from who they were to who they are. The logical process would be to push them through the psychological gauntlet of acknowledging the past, letting go, and coming to a sense of self-realization. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer may have been chosen because of their infamous resistance to change and their leadership roles within the JackLocke Tribe.
Jack was isolated and faced with his past, placed in a situation where he would have to give up control, despite his stubborn drive to resist. Kate, on the other hand, was forced to wear a dress and act “civilized”, contrary to her personality, throwing her out of her comfort zone. All the while, she was reminded of her criminal past by the handcuffs she was forced to wear. One would assume that this is just the beginning of her own enforced self-realization process.
Sawyer’s process begins, as one might expect, with humiliating captivity. For someone who values his ability to maneuver in any situation, forging his own destiny, this is a painful scenario. Clearly, the Others used the other “captive” to undermine Sawyer’s confidence, and then tossed Kate into the adjacent cell to determine what that interaction would accomplish. As with Kate, the expectation is that this is only the beginning.
Some might find this episode to be a disappointing beginning to the season, overlooking the fact that a short exploration of the Others and their plans for Jack, Kate, and Sawyer would be less satisfying in the long run. This is a series that works better when exploring the details, and this season premiere is all about the details. If anything, the question is whether or not the rest of the season will deliver on what this episode promises.
(As a sidenote: There is a podcast associated with the various science fiction reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”. Current episodes cover “Lost”, so it might be something of interest. Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com to listen to the show!)
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode is a capable season premiere, introducing one set of plot threads for the third season while reinforcing the primary thematic aspects of the series’ mythology. Some might find the relatively narrow focus and the emphasis on psychological manipulation to be less than inspiring, but trying to cover all the open questions from the second season finale would have resulted in something far too scattershot. Hopefully, the rest of the season will demonstrate why this was a strong beginning.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
posted by John Keegan | 17:26
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