Reviews by Matt

I’m going to do my best to keep this review spoiler free for those who won’t see the episode until later (cough, cough scott).

Wednesday night, the third season of Lost began. It was a long awaited premiere and it was worth every minute of wait time. Season two ended in shock. “The Others” had taken Kate, Sawyer and Jack hostage and were going to bring them back to their camp. That was exactly where season three began; in their camp (kinda). There is not much plot outline that can be given for multiple reasons.

So instead it’s to the performances. My favorite of the night would have to be Matthew Fox, who plays the doctor, Jack Shepard. He gives one of the best episodes in terms of Jack character development. All through seasons one and two, Jack was a rock. He was one of the strongest members of the survivors. He took the leader role and the other survivors followed him. He kept things together personally and among the others who looked to him for guidance. Not so in this episode. He is separated from Kate and Sawyer. Alone in a room, he has no one to contend with except himself. In flashbacks, we see Jack deal with divorcing his wife Sarah (Julie Bowen). He is still in shock that she wants to leave him. All through the episode he is obsessed with finding out whom the man is that she left him for. It drives him to irrational thoughts and he becomes so preoccupied with it that he even suspects that his father is sleeping with her. The panicle moment is when Jack interrupts his father’s AA meeting and gets into an argument with him, ending when he tackles him through a poster.
Jack’s out of control manner is complimented by a new character this season, Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell). She is a member of “the others” and is the only one to have contact Jack. Even as Jack yells, and avoids her questions, she remains as calm as ever; making Jack seem all the more out of control. She keeps her cool even after Jack attacked her in an escape attempt. The tricky thing about her character is the fact that she is new. It is hard to come into a series three seasons in and be liked this well. She never loses her temper and never even raises her voice. She seems to have honest intentions and is actually nice to Jack. One of the things that makes her likable is that she seems out of place with the others. Their leader (or who we assume is their leader,) and Juliet seem to have some tension between them and most likely a troubled past.

The assumed leader, “Henry Gale” or as we now know, Ben (Michael Emerson) is another great character. The survivors captured him in season two and once it was discovered he was one of them, he became one of the best bad guys ever. It’s hard to hate him. He is so likeable in his evilness. He is calm and unflappable, even when he is threatened. Even when he tells Kate that, “the next two weeks are going to be very unpleasant,” I still can’t hate him.

So “Lost” is back and, safe to say, better then ever. This season will be in two blocks. Six episodes back to back and then a break until February when it will come back for the rest of the season uninterrupted. Great idea and it should pay off in the end. The three month break is going to be hard for the fans, but they have something planned for those Lost-free weeks. So the fall television premiere season has officially ended (at least in my eyes). There is a lot out there that is worth the time and I will be filling you in on those as soon as I find the time.

ABC
WED 9/8c