Photos
Video
RSS
Twitter'Lost': Ten things I loved about Season 5
As we still wrap our heads around Season 5, I thought I'd look back at ten things I loved about "Lost" this season. Later this week, I'll counter with five things I found less than thrilling. But today? I'm all about the love, baby.
The season's ambition. It didn't always work, but by God, has there ever been a season of a network show that tried even half of what this season did? Time travel, paradox, multiple time periods, and a reworking of familiar moments to give them next context. It made my brain hurt, usually in wonderful ways.
Sawyer. My MVP for Season 5, he brought the funny and the emotional all season long. From functioning as the onscreen audience during the time flashes to showing compassion and maturity in Dharmaville, the one-time con man brought increasingly interesting shades to light. His scene on the pier with Juliet in "LaFleur" is my single favorite scene of the season, hands down. In lieu of the finale, I think we're going to see a few more Sawyer shades come Season 6.
"Jughead". My favorite episode of the season. People point to "The Variable" as the natural companion piece to "The Constant," but I'd offer this up as my example. It used time travel in a compelling but not head-scratching way, gave both Faraday and Des beautiful emotional moments, and confirmed Widmore's presence on the Island. A marvel of economy, emotion, and narrative.
Sayid's drug-induced confession in "He's Our You." In a season in which the narrative was almost unrelentingly bleak, this scene offered the show an opportunity for much-needed levity. Extra points for having the literal truth about the season's plot brushed off as the ramblings of someone on drugs. Because that's usually the type of reaction I get when trying to sell people on the virtues of "Lost."
Kate's reason for going back to the Island. People seem to think I love hatin' on Kate. I don't. I take what the show gives me, and generally speaking, it does her character no favors. But when she revealed to Carole Littleton why she was returning to the Island in "Whatever Happened, Happened," it stood as Kate's single finest moment on the show and a highlight of Season 5.
Hurley/Miles interactions. Absolute comic gold, these two. Their paradox discussion in "Happened" blew the collective mind of "Lost" fans, which wondered if the show's writers were secretly taping conversations they were having on their own.
The final scene in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham." This episode wildly divided people, but I haven't met one person that wasn't blown away by the interactions between Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson in this scene. I'm as guilty as anyone of overanalyzing the show to the point of strangling its fun with extension cord, but I can also step back and just admire two great actors at the height of their powers.
The first scene in "The Incident." I had 99 problems with the finale, but this ain't one. A spare, haunting scene that said so much about the show as a whole while still making the audience feel that they had to work to put the pieces together. In other shows, this type of scene might have felt like a jump the shark moment. In this one? A pulling back of the curtain to reveal the true DNA of show's central struggle.
The notLocke fakeout. Don't take this as a sign I'm happy the real John Locke is dead. But seeing the Locke's corpse tumble out of Ilana's crate was this show's Keyser Soze moment, in which you realize the full extent to which you didn't see the truth before your very eyes. The show took our own affection for the character and used it against us in order to put the show's Big Bad before our eyes for nearly half a season before we caught up. Moments like this are why I refuse to read spoilers about the show.
Rose/Bernard's words of wisdom. Interesting how, in a season that so heavily featured The Dharma Initiative, it took two of the show's minor characters to live a life most closely associated with the tenets of Buddhism. Many people saw this scene as a waste of finale space; I saw it as crucial to Season 6, in which characters that have spent 3 years running to stand still will finally take stock of what's most important to them. A simple, gorgeous scene that embodies everything I love about the show.
OK, those were my ten. What are some of yours?
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude. He invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed.
Post a comment
Zap2it Twitter Talk 
That just about covers it for me, Ryan. While so many people disliked this season, I loved every moment of it.
There definitely should be some LOST Emmys this year!
ryan...
you know, i was thinking...
what if MIB kills jacob at the end of season 5, but the jacob possesses the body of the original john locke and they have a showdown in season 6? Locke vs UnLocke/ Jacob V MIB
Is that way too much Locke for comfort? LOL.
Mel-C : I have mentioned the possibility of the two Locke's walking around also battling each other.
As for the finest moments of this less than stellar season...how can we not forget Frodo getting the flaming arrow in the chest.
Having Locke vs. UnLocke would be turning Lost, a show with a great ensemble cast, into the Terry O'Quinn show. Not happening (at least I hope not). Besides, dead is dead.
I would rather have the Terry O'Quinn show as opposed to the Dharmaville Season we just experienced. More Locke...more Ben....more Richard...giddyup!
For me, the most disappointing thing was that there weren't more Jughead type episodes. Just the way different time periods were used here and in LaFleur (which should have been on the list) show what this season could have been. Desmond and Faraday working together, or just being in the same episode makes the show better, and this season would have been much better had they not been pushed aside for so long.
Lapidus seeing who was on Ajira flight 316: "We're not going to Guam are we?" deserves honorable mention. I also like any scene where we finally see the complete statue.
Yeah, I have to say, I THINK the opening to "the incident" was my favorite lost opening to date. Also I must say, I feel rather proud of myself because about 20 min. before they opened the box I was getting REALLY su****ious of locke and right before they opened it I said " It's gonna be locke!" I'm sure alot of people actually guess this because their has been something off about locke all season but I mostly saw it as him being kind of divine and comming back as a higher self... But it was cool to finally get something right! The last time I got something right was well, back in season three when Mr. Friendly told kate she wsn't his type, I said I bet you anything he is gay... No one believed me and sure enough 2 seasons later we found ot he was... I have lovely gaydar. Anyways, I really did love season 5.. I don't know if I have quite the same burning p***ion I used to have for LOST but I still think it's thebest show ever and will always defend it to haters.
I agree that (despite the parts that seemed to make no sense) there was a tremendous amount to love about this season, including the Sawyer/Juliet pier scene, the Bernard and Rose finale scene, and so much more (mostly covered above).
And as far as guilty pleasures go, even more than Frogurt's death I'd have to say my favorite moment was the unexpected "Candida" scene: an ode to the simple pleasures of goofing off at work, dancing with the hot chick, and listening to a silly song that for some unexplainable reason makes you feel so good.
(P.S. Thanks "T" and "Keepingawake" and others for the interesting info and analysis.)
It will be a showdown between Jacob vs MIB ... but Jacob will be possesing/take over Ben's body after MIB kills him, since he won't have any use for Ben anymore ... so it'll be a battle between UnLocke vs UnBen ...