Lost 2.1: "Man of Science, Man of Faith"

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“Why are you so anxious to get down there?” Jack Shephard asks of John Locke as they stand over the freshly opened hatch and its shaft-to-nowhere. Had Jack asked this same question of Lost’s fans, he very likely would have been choked to death. Four months we have waited to see what that broken ladder leads to. Four months of rumors, teases, and a best drama Emmy win (a win for the show as much as for its fans). Four months of hearing the moans of the shark-jumpers: “They didn’t give us enough in the finale.” What’s in the hatch? Everbody wants to know.

The answer: Jose Canseco. Who knew?

Of course, I kid. Sort of.

Season two wastes no time giving the rabid fans what they’ve been waiting for: the contents of the hatch. Lost opens in a fancy loft as its occupant goes about his morning duties: eating, exercising, checking his computer, more exercising, administering injections into his arm. It’s unclear who he is, but the deco of the apartment and the athlete’s music selection (not to mention hair) has us placed in a flashback -- probably somewhere in the 80’s.

Then there’s the explosion. The man shuts down his apartment. A periscope falls from the ceiling and we’re jerked towards a series of mirrors placed about the apartment, and out into a shotty concrete hallway, and up to … wait for it… the hatch. Season one ends with the camera sinking down into the hatch. Season two begins with the camera rising up out of the hatch. A few minutes into the sophomore season and already viewers are, for lack of a better word, lost.

Oh how simple the old days were. Remember them? The ones where only one question occupied our thoughts: What’s in the hatch? Well, now we know. And how much don’t we know now because of it. I had to smile thinking of those viewers who complained that last year’s finale left them wanting. Can you imagine if this premiere had been that finale? And all those people had to wait four months for the answers to all the new questions?

I love this show.

Although it’s going to be infuriating trying to recap these episodes when there’s so much information in just one. I think we’ll have to go with bullet points.

Man of Science, Man of Faith

The title of this episode “Man of Science, Man of Faith” implies the brewing feud between Jack and Locke, but it is in fact speaking of only one of them: Jack. This episode’s flashbacks show us his first encounter with Sarah, his future wife (Julie Bowen). She’s brought in to the ER after an automobile accident in horrific shape, and Jack shows a cold bluntness when he informs Sarah of her diagnosis. Jack can’t bring himself to give her, nor her fiancee (who bails at the prospect of a life of catheter bags and wheelchairs), false hope. And despite promising Sarah he will fix her, he walks away from the operating table knowing that he failed.

But while running stairs in a nearby stadium, Jack runs into a peculiar foreigner who asks him why he’s running like the devil is on his heels. Jack explains the situation -- he promised to fix Sarah, but he didn’t. The personable Aussie (?) asks him how he can be so sure.

“That would be a miracle,” Jack says.

“And you don’t believe in miracles?” the Aussie replies. Jack snorts.

“See you in another life, perhaps," the man says as he runs away.

Jack returns to the hospital where he informs Sarah of the results of her surgery, this time with tears in his eyes; she'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Despite his sincerity, she thinks she’s putting him on.

“Then why can I wiggle my toes?”

Walt?

Though most of the episode focused on the hatch, it did feature its share of foreboding regarding the passengers not directly involved in that undertaking. Sayeed and Charlie have returned with Turniphead/Aaron and tell the other passengers that the black smoke was all Danielle’s doing (though it’s not clear if that’s true or not). Charlie feels confident that The Others were a hoax, but Sayeed is not so sure. Of course, we already know that they got a child, just not Claire’s child.

Speaking of that child, Walt is the only member of the raft party to show up in the premiere, but in typical Lost fashion it’s just the tip of another mysterious iceberg. After losing track of Vincent, Shannon and Sayeed head into the jungle to track the dog down. When they get separated, Shannon has a perplexing run-in with a soaking head-to-toe, gibberish-speaking Walt, who disappears before Sayeed returns. Shannon shares her experience with the rest of the survivors at the caves, but nobody seems to give her tale much credence.

Down the Hatch

After much discussion, Locke takes the initiative to head into the hatch, much to Jack’s chagrin (the back of the hatch door said QUARANTINE people, and unless that‘s French for soft and fuzzy, I would tend to be on Jack‘s side there). Kate quickly follows after Locke -- more of Jack’s chagrin -- and thanks to her initiative and delectable petiteness, Locke elects her to manage the hatch first. He lowers her down until a bright white light fills the shaft and she is pulled away(God bless him, he held on until his hands bled).

When Jack returns to the hatch (with automatic weapon in toe) and finds neither Locke nor Kate, he follows the cable down. Once below he encounters a barred entrance that magnetically attracts the key hanging around his neck. Suddenly crazy 80’s music begins to play once again, and Jack is led into a control room of sorts with reel-to-reels and a computer with…

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Locke tells Jack, who wheels on him with his automatic.

Locke is standing at the end of a corridor with his hands in the air, a gun to his neck. Jack argues with the gunman hiding around the corner until he reveals himself as... wait for it... The Aussie who so many years ago asked Jack if he believed in miracles.

In general…

The contents of the hatch didn’t change my life, but then they weren’t ever going to. The hatch proved to be exactly what I expected it to be -- a portal to more questions. It’ll be interesting to see the message board reaction to this episode. For people who complained about the finale, what they got tonight must truly piss them off. Even less makes sense now than at the end of last season. Who’s the muscle-bound American Psycho with the small arsenal and retro apartment at the bottom of the hatch? How did he get there? And why did he run into Jack before he got there? Why quarantined? Where’s Kate? And forget about trying to figure out Walt’s Exorcist moment.

Lost continues to astound. The way I see it, I could only have two criticisms of its return. First, it opened up a whole new set of mysteries. That’s a criticism, but not one you will hear from me. Some people just seem to want this show to end so they can see the big picture. These are the same people who ask questions during movies and always want to know how a magician does his tricks. Just shut up and enjoy the show people. This show is not about the destination so much as how we get there. When the show ends, if we still have questions, only then will the "too little info" criticism be valid. The other possible criticism is just pure greed. I could have done without the Lost retrospective (which didn’t even mention the numbers, by the way) especially seeing as the DVD came out a week ago. I would have much rather had another blockbuster two-hour premiere like last year. Then maybe more of this might make sense. Although this is Lost, so probably not.

A week has never been so long. And that means the magic is still there.

Lost 2.1 “Man of Science, Man of Faith” Grade : A-