Lost 2.2: "Adrift"

It’s somewhat appropriate that the second episode of Lost’s season was titled “Adrift,” because it felt like so much treading water. With the island storyline advancing very little and with Michael’s largely superfluous flashback, this was the least compelling episode of Lost so far.

That being said, I have a sneaking suspicion that this episode will play better once this season reaches its climax. There was a great deal of sub-textual groundwork being laid here, and even at its worst Lost inspire plenty of raised eyebrows and WTFs:

“Are you him?”

In the first “present day” flashback in the show’s run, we are finally shown what happened to Kate and Locke at the bottom of the hatch. When Locke finds Kate prone on the floor, Desmond pops up behind him -- rifle in hand. Before Locke can say anything Desmond asks “Are you him?” Clearly Desmond is waiting for somebody, but when Locke can’t answer a riddle about snowmen it is clear that he is not “him.” Could “him” be Jack?

Don’t Take Crazy People’s Candy

When Jack drops down the hatch, Desmond locks Kate up in a bomb shelter storeroom. All of the food had the same label on it -- a label that also appears on Desmond’s fatigues. This didn’t frighten Kate though, who lustfully attacked an Apollo chocolate bar before escaping through the air vent in the ceiling.

“I haven’t seen one of those in twenty years.”

When a radar-like beep rings in the hatch, Desmond take Locke to the control room where a flip-clock ticker is counting down. Desmond then commands Locke to go over to the computer and type in what he says: “4...8...15...16...23...42...execute.” Locke, who works through faith most of the time, actually pauses to ask what the little program is going to do. It resets the clock to 108 (add up the numbers), but who knows what else it did.

The big WTF of the night

As Michael and Sawyer cling to the remains of the destroyed raft, a shark begins to circle the strandees. Always stalking but never attacking, I had almost forgot the shark was there until an underwater shot revealed its bright white belly -- and a tattoo. Low on the sharks stomach was the same logo that adorned the food in Desmond’s storeroom. This is one of those Lost touch’s that is so bizarre I can’t even begin to hypothesize.

Tiny morsels, no meal

Sadly, this episode played like a Where’s Waldo of future clues. That’s fine, but the characters are the guts of this show and there really wasn’t much “character” to this episode. Despite Harold Perinneau’s tremendous performance -- his breakdown on the skid was heartbreaking -- his flashback didn’t enlighten us to anything new. Aside from Micheal’s farewell gift to Walt (a polar bear), nothing in those scenes felt new or necessary.

And all of the drama in the hatch was especially irritating considering my advocacy for a two-hour premiere. Going back and showing Kate and Locke in the hatch felt cheap from a storytelling perspective when it took the entire episode to “catch up“ to where the first episode ended. Sure, showing things in order would have spoiled the twist of Jack and Desmond’s past, but that could have been worked around.

Oh well. On to next week. Michael and Sawyer have landed on the bad side of the island where they meet Jin running for his life from The Others. Jack, Desmond, Kate, and Locke are down in the hatch, and there’s no possible way they can flashback again (or can they?). Plus we have almost ten other major cast members who have yet to be brought back into the fold. If we don’t count Shannon’s run-in with Walt and Claire discovering Charlie’s Virgin Mary, the other cast members have barely been mentioned. What’s going on with Sayeed? How about Sun? Or Turniphead?

When a show is this good, there always has to be a “worst” episode. We’ve got this one in the bag. Now let’s get back to what made Lost such a great show: the large and diverse ensemble and the taught, imaginative storytelling. I’ll be waiting.