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by Frederic Germay
The third season of Lost has found its redemption throughthe last leg of the season, delivering an array of increasingly excellent episodes. However, with the addition of "The Brig," the show has reached a level of perfection seldom seen since the first season.
Throughout its first season, Lost was an amazing thrill ride. Every single twist was expertly revealed with faultless precision. The second season…not so much. Sure, it had its moments, but it was an overall step down in quality. As for third season's first half, despite a few brilliant moments, the show failed to deliver. The fan base started to dwindle, critics claimed that Lost was truly lost, and even the most diehard fans continued to watch with a growing distaste. As of now, that’s all changed.
This episode displayed the moments all fans have grown to love over the years: mystery, suspense, drama, and action. Never-the-less, what made this more than just a solid episode is this show's long-missing ability to simply show a scene, a scene completely void of action, that speaks profound volumes. To simply look into a character's eyes, or to gaze at an unfamiliar image or depiction of some kind, and feel the deep, harmonious weight behind it is truly remarkable. Just seeing Locke standing there with his father strapped to a large pillar…well, I felt the moment within me.
A great deal of the hubbub surrounding "The Brig" was because it was the highly anticipated episode without flashbacks. Correct me if I am wrong, but there were quite a few flashbacks, and it wasn't the first of its kind. Admittedly, there were no flashbacks into the pre-crash life of any of the island's inhabitants, but there were flashbacks of earlier events on the island, i.e. follow-up with Locke's dad. If they don't count as flashbacks, then last season's "Three Minutes," which also employed the same method of storytelling, was really the first episode without flashbacks.
Now on to the story, some of you may have guessed that Anthony Cooper, a.k.a. the real Sawyer, was in fact the man that our Sawyer had a vendetta against. In retrospect, it seems as though many of tonight's events were quite predictable. Being that as it may, one of this episode's strengths was the magic of how the events unfolded, regardless of the inevitable outcome.
This episode told the story of Locke's desire to follow the others, and in order to do so, he had to murder his own father. Locke was apparently incapable of direct murder, so he recruited Sawyer to perform the task. This storyline used a perfect combination of the Lost mythology by connecting both the island's past (Did anyone notice the little Tailie children) and the character's pasts (Locke's dad just happens to be Sawyer's Sawyer).
The side plot may have not been as interesting, but it had its intrinsic worth. I must say that I find Naomi to be fascinating, and quite delightful -- "remind me not to save you." I also enjoyed how Desmond insisted that they only tell those who are trustworthy, excluding Jack and Juliet. Sayid was brought into the loop, probably because his knowledge of the assorted gadget repair was invaluable. After Kate found out about the radio/phone that Sayid was attempting to fix, she goes and blabs to Jack and Juliet. For the life of me, I can't explain the how utterly hopeless her character is becoming, and if we don't have some serious fugitive drama coming up…Kate's character will no longer have any meaning.
Concerning Jack and Juliet finding out about Naomi, I was a little worried about the tidbit of their conversation that we overheard. It seems that maybe Jack is conspiring with the others, if the 'she' he kept talking about is the sheriff or some other 'other.'
Overall, this was one perfect episode of Lost. This eppie answered many questions, yet begged much more.
I give this episode a 9/10. |
