So I know at the end of my last post I said I would be back with the episode two summary / fun facts blog the next week, but unfortunately I got caught in a net. So without any further adieu I give you episode 2: Pilot. Though they technically ended an episode and started a new one, it is obvious by the episode title that this was intended to be aired all at once, basically making it all one episode. With the most obvious fact now out of the way, it brings me great joy to dive into the second half of the premier that changed our lives (well a lot of us anyway). We ended the first half of this extended episode with the pilot of Oceanic 815 being violently ripped out of the fuselage by the mysterious monster. Jack, Kate and Charlie locate the bloody body high up in the branches of a tree, left wondering what exactly they are dealing with in regards to the monster. Clearly they themselves did not get a good look at it, helping to further build that bond between character and viewer. As of now, none of us have a clue what’s going on, something that would have been more frustrating to the viewer had the characters known something that we didn’t. It’s bad enough we haven’t even seen a pixel of whatever this monster is yet, but at least they don’t know either. So to distract the viewer from the big question, we almost immediately get thrown into our second flashback of the series. Mr. Charlie Pace.
Up until now we only know that he’s a rock star, a bit awkward and perhaps even desperate when it comes to the ladies, but has a certain charm to him. Some might even call it innocence. Up until now that is. So in said flashback, we come to find out that Charlie is a heroin addict and he was in the process of getting high in the bathroom of the plane as it was going down.
We know heroin comes back to haunt him in a big way, but right now he is concerned with the one bag that he left on the plane. When Jack, Kate and Charlie go on their expedition to find the transceiver, Charlie retrieves his heroin bag and soon begins lying in order to keep his secret. We see this theme of dishonesty and secrecy repeat itself throughout this episode and the series.
- Kate is keeping secret that she is a criminal, though Jack soon finds out.
- Jack then lies to Kate to allow her to think she is still keeping said secret.
- Though not quite a secret since he was willing to be honest when asked, no one knows that Sayid is a member of the Iraqi Republican Guard except for Hurley (who asked) and “if the fat guy knows, everyone knows.”
- Sawyer quietly reads a letter to himself and keeps said letter and his back story a secret for quite some time.
- Sun was unfaithful to her husband before getting on the plane. She also secretly speaks English. Michael and Kate will eventually find out about this, but they then keep it a secret for her.
- Locke asks Walt if he wants to know a secret. (What is his secret? Walt later tells his father that Locke’s secret was that he experienced a miracle. Maybe this is what he really told him, but we never saw it so I guess we don’t know for certain. We know now that Walt is also a ‘special’ character. Perhaps their interaction was more involved than Walt made it seem.)
At this time, Locke also introduces the next big theme of the show, which we are revisiting in a major way as of the season five finale. As he teaches Walt about backgammon, he sums it up by simplifying it to its core terms. Two sides: one is light, the other is dark. Many see this as a metaphor for good vs. evil. We see it appear many more times throughout the show, but most recently in the season five finale as we find out that Jacob is feuding with another mysterious man on the island: Jacob wearing white and the other man wearing black.
These are the most significant points that came up in this episode as it pertains to the rest of the series. Of course there is the polar bear mystery, which has had some light shed on it since its first appearance, but overall relatively insignificant. I’m sure a good number of us had higher hopes for the polar bear since it was so odd for it to be on a tropical island in the first place, but then just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier, the team of Kate, Sayid, Sawyer, Charlie, Boone and Shannon hear an eerie transmission when they finally obtain a signal on the repaired radio they found. A French woman repeating herself on a loop for 16 years, saying “Please help me, I am alone on the island now. Please someone come. They’re dead. It killed them, it killed them all.”
What a way to end an episode! Absolutely great suspense and as a viewer you can almost feel that heart-pounding fear for yourself that had to have been going through the characters’ minds when they realized the implications of what they had just heard. Sidenotes: - The transmission has been looping for 16 years – 16 is of course one of ‘the numbers’.- In the excitement of re-living these episodes, I almost forgot to mention the promotional products seen in this episode. (Technically it was the first half of the pilot and I forgot to mention it last time) Charlie should look into getting himself some custom Sharpies since he seems to be into them.
- How could I forget about all the custom imprinted bottled water being passed around and re-used? Oceanic airlines had to get these bottles printed somewhere didn’t they?
Now that we’ve explored most aspects of the pilot, I’m pumped to talk about episode three: Tabula Rasa. In the mean time, if you’re up to date on Lost and enjoy a good theory to spark discussion, there is a ‘Lost Theory of the Day’ over at http://simplytelevision.blogspot.com/ You may find something that you never thought of before, and I’ll be back soon to try and tie it all together as I re-watch every episode all over again.
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