Review of Lost 2.08

YAWN.

Okay, I have to admit that I had the episode of Survivor: Guatemala, that I missed due to Turkey day commitments, queed up for download at the time. This episode made that download seem to take even longer than it did.
Ana Lucia has been fairly unpopular with the fans, and I don't feel like last week's episode helped give us anything more to make us like her. The writers said we'd understand her more, and we do. But understanding why you dislike someone is not the same as coming around and actually liking them. To like them, we have to like what they do. Speaking of which, when is the last time we saw something likeable out of poor Said? What made his torturing of Sawyer so difficult was that he was so likable around camp. Further, what made us hate Sawyer from the start was that he started a fight with Said, who was so likable. Stop putting Said through the wringer all the time and let us see him act like a normal human being. Must he always be either doing something supremely devilish or supremely saintly?
In terms of what made this show alluring in season one, I'm starting to fear that it has lost the thread a bit. Please, more parts of the show like the golf bit, less people shooting people and then have them flash back to shooting other other people.

Review of Lost 2.07

I have to confess this, though I don't know why: last night was the first time I've seen "Lost" as it aired on tv (Thank you Netflix and ITunes!)

I actually enjoyed last night's episode very much. It was nice to set up the other side of the plane as constantly under attack. The view of the island this group has is not going to jive with the other group's view. The "tailies" have had no golf course, no supplies, no spiritual growth where people find peace and conquer fear, regret and addiciton. They have just plain been on the run. If Jack is the reluctant and caring leader, the politically popular choice to lead, Ana Lucia is a general. The front of the plane got on the plane and crashed into mystery; the tailies crashed into a warzone.

All in all, a satisfying viewing experience, though I still get the feeling that someone noticed the ratings were sky high and decided to release clues about the island more slowly to give the show a longer season to season run time.

Review of Lost 2.06

So, raise your hand if you have not shot someone... NOT SO FAST EVERYONE ON LOST! I mean, really, is this really the best way to create dramatic tension? It seems like everyone is now at least partially responsible the death of someone else. I find the show to be fascinating, but isn't it posible to develop a little more SUBTLE points of conflict??
After the first two or three episodes, season two has really started to sputter for me. This Wednesday's show will be an interesting departure, but honestly, as we've filled in the backstories on a lot of these people, its becoming clear that they haven't really developed a lot of good sustainable relationships between people in the present tense of the show. The island is the interesting tease of the show, but one expects it will be quite some time before that mystery gets rolled out with any more significance.
Back to this particular episode, it didn't really do anything for me. The death seems utterly contrived, the story lines that one really cares about are somewhat pointlessly tabled, and the show's general pacing problems (ie: Clair gets kidnapped, three episodes later people remember that Claire has been kidnapped) continue onward. That being said, I am still TOTALLY fascinated by the island, I think the show has some great characters and I am hopeful that they'll give us some more stories with a little more meat on the bones in the future.