Review: Lost (Season 4, Episode 2)

Well I don't know about you, but I decided to re-watch the first episode of Lost that was shown right before this one, because of how well-done it was and how excited I was for the fourth season. And it's always tough to introduce new characters (we met four new ones tonight!), but each new character is different, interesting, and should have a lot to contribute to the new season.

Lost just feels different now. It's like reading a book, only you jump all over the chapters (although not quite like the popular Choose Your Own Adventure books from elementary school). What I love about Lost is that even when Jack has a gun pointed at him, even though I know he gets off the Island, I'm still tense, and in suspense.
And even though we have some answers of the future, these four new characters represent a whole new chapter of questions.

I think my favorite of the new characters is Dan, and how he approaches everything with a sort of trepidation. Miles is a good character, but the whole ghostbuster act is weird. Charlotte is a good addition, too. But my favorite is Frank, if only for the fact that he was supposed to be the pilot of Oceanic Flight 815.

A quick recap of what went on, basically it was Jack's camp vs. Locke's camp, and it was luck of the draw for our four new friends to find out which camp they would end up with (do we have a name for this group yet?) I love how Jack, Juliet, and Sayid took the power from Miles and Dan quickly, and also the big reveal at the end that the four of them are after Ben. Although I wonder how things would have played out if Naomi had not been killed, but either way, it looks like any Lostie is going to have to thank Locke for that in the long run. The two camps are sure to met up quickly, I would think, as the Miles, Dan, and Frank attempt to find Charlotte.

The flashbacks were cool, I loved seeing the coverage and aftermath of the Flight 815crash from the perspective of the rest of the world. Although, that guy that visited Hurley in the future was back and was adament that there were no survivors of the crash. I can't wait to find out what the big cover-up is truly about. But it looks like if we get flashbacks from now on, it will be in this style. I'm not sure if we should expect individual flashbacks on each of the four new characters, but it would make sense. I gotta admit though, I missed not having a flashfoward, spoiled by them already!

Other highlights from the episode:

* When Locke explains he has taken orders from Walt, and later in the episode Sawyer asks Locke if he's heard anything from "Tall Ghost Walt"

* What's with the polar bear in the middle of Tunisia? With a Dharma logo?

* The number 888-548-0034 is a real number, call it and you'll get a 50 second message from the staff at Oceanic Airlines.

* If that body in the cockpit wasn't Seth Norris, who was it?

* Hurley backtracking about seeing the cabin.

* When Locke asked ben what the black smoke monster was.

* When Ben shot Charlotte, I thought for sure she was dead. That would have been awesome, and unexpected.

But my favorite part of the episode was the look on the faces of Jack, Kate, Sayid, and Juliet when the saw the helicopter. To them, that thing on their island must have looked as surreal as any horse, polar bear, or Christian Shephard appearance. After all their time on the island, they realize rescue can be possible.

Something tells me it's not gonna be that easy.