Lost Season 4 was probably my favorite season since Season 1, and on par in quality. Truth is, I've always loved Lost. Even through Ana-Lucia, and bear cages, and Nikki and Paulo, I've always loved it. I can admit to the fact that the show has hit some rough patches, but I think the positives of the show far outweigh the negatives. So, of course, I may be a bit biased when it comes to evaluating Season 4, but I really do think Season 4 was genuinely on a level of quality higher than Seasons 2 and 3 and most other shows on television. It was extremely well plotted, but above all, hit amazing character notes because of the introduction of the flash-forwards. And that was the main reason why this season was so good. The creators had the good faith to realize that the flashbacks were running stale and so they completely changed up the game and took the show in a new direction, allowing the viewers to get completely new perspectives on the characters we had grown to know.
Some comments on some of the episodes of Season 4:
4.01 "The Beginning of the End"- Lost has a history of starting off the season with a bang and this episode did not dissapoint. The reveal of Hurley yelling, "I'm one of the Oceanic 6!" was extremely shocking and set up the mystery of the season wonderfully. Who were the other members of the Oceanic 6? How did they all get off the island? What happened to everybody else? And most importantly, why did Hurley say that they made a mistake and that they needed to go back (and what was up with Ghost!Charlie)? A really great start to the season.
4.02 "Confirmed Dead"- A unique episode giving us little glimpses into the four people from the helicopter, Miles, Charlotte, Frank, and Daniel. While we haven't gotten full flashbacks on each of these characters yet, this episode did a good job in giving us just enough to know a little about each one and perhaps some of their motivation for coming to the island. I really wanted to mention this episode however because it introduced one of my new favorite characters, Daniel Faraday, who is awesome and lovable and mysterious and I can't wait to learn more about him!
4.05 "The Constant"- Probably my favorite episode of the season, because of the way that it gave us answers to a lot of the mysteries, yet also had wonderful character moments for Desmond. Once again, I'm a bit biased because Desmond is one of my favorite characters (if not my number 1), and so I always enjoy his episodes, but I really feel like this episode was special. While I liked his "time-travelling" Season 3 episode, "Flashes Before Your Eyes", it was always sort of frustrating for me because it left me feeling confused (like a lot of things on this show). But "The Constant", while starting out confusing, eventually let the viewer piece together why Desmond's consciousness was traveling through time and why it related to the island, and why he needed to find his constant. The reason why I like Desmond's character is because even though crazy, ridiculous things happen to him, he always feels like a real, grounded character and a genuinely good guy. He's also a hopeless romantic, and one of the best story lines of the show has been his romance with Penny and their constant struggles to find one another. The scene at the end of this episode where Desmond finally talks to Penny after being apart for so long is one of the most beautiful and powerful scenes this show has done. A ton of credit has to be given to the heartbreaking performances of Henry Ian Cusick and Sonya Walger in that scene, so much so that the emotion generated from their conversation makes me cry every single time I watch it. These are the scenes that to me, define why Lost is so good. While they can do the shocking mysteries very well, it's the character payoff that really is what puts this show over the rest.
4.07 "Ji Yeon"- This is another episode that succeeded because of the character moments. Jin and Sun have been two of my favorite characters since the show's beginning and often, their episodes are my favorites of the season, and this was no exception. I will admit to figuring out that Jin's flash-forward was really a flashBACK pretty quickly in the episode and felt that in doing so, the episode was a bit manipulative, but it all came together in the end with Sun's flash-forward, culminating in the reveal of Jin's grave. I was absolutely devastated at the end of this episode the first time I watched it because more than anything, I want those two to have a happy ending, and the reveal that Jin was dead was made even harder because of the absolutely beautiful scenes those two had together on the island (with more amazing performances by Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim). While more stuff is revealed about Jin's supposed death in later episodes, this episode did an absolutely amazing job in showing us the beauty and the tragedy of Jin/Sun.
4.08 "Meet Kevin Johnson"- I specifically remember not liking this episode the first time I watched it. I think because at that point, I had a strong dislike of Michael, stemming from his betrayal of his fellow islanders. But on second watch, I found that the episode was a lot better based on the fact that I really felt badly for Michael. I actually think now he's a character that is judged unfairly. When we find him, his life is so unbelievably tragic, and his effort to make amends really does feel heartfelt, and therefore I found myself sympathizing. I do think the episode suffers because of the extended flashback without any cuts back to the present, but I found this time around, the episode held up a lot better.
4.09 "The Shape of Things to Come"- Oh, Ben. Half of the time I hate him and the other half I'm intrigued by him. This episode however, was one of the few episodes that I really felt sympathy for him. I was absolutely SHOCKED that the show had Keamy kill Alex, but in doing so, you really saw a side of Ben you don't normally see, and it made his actions in his flash-forward make a lot more sense. His crying over Alex's body was heartbreaking, and I loved the conversation he had with Charles Widmore at the end. I was back to sort of maybe liking Ben a little bit...and then of course he threatened to kill Penny and I hated him again. Oh, Ben...
4.13 "There's No Place Like Home (Part 2)"- So. Effin. Good. I'll be a little undignified when talking about this episode because it really was pretty dang amazing, as most Lost finales are. Why did I like it so much then? Because they "went there". When Locke said that they had to move the island, he really meant it. I love it because everything can now be explained away by TIME TRAVEL! Every crazy thing that has happened and will happen makes a little more sense now. And Ben crying as he's turning the "frozen donkey wheel" because he can't come back was extremely powerful. As was about a million other things this episode! Sun screaming as she watches the supposed death of her husband (please don't be dead, Jin!), Sawyer being a big damn hero and jumping off the helicopter after kissing Kate, Ben letting Keamy die knowing full well that he's sealed the death of the people on the freighter, Claire visiting Kate in a dream telling her not to bring Aaron back, Hurley playing chess with Mr. Eko, Desmond finally reuniting with Penny in one of the most beautiful scenes this show has ever done, LOCKE IN THE COFFIN!!!! Craziness. And of course, in typical Lost fashion, the finale leaves even more questions than answers, ones that hopefully will be answered soon, but really the finale succeeded in telling a very dramatic story in sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes emotional, sometimes surprising ways, that made for an extremely enjoyable 2 hours of television.
So, Lost Season 4. I approve. Here's to hoping Season 5 is just as good! Just one more day!!!
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