OK, so I guess it's time to lay down some thoughts on the premiere and the upcoming season, no?
It's already been widely reported that this season will be more-or-less split into two separate mini-seasons. The first of which I'm going to refer to as season 2.5 (in Galactica fashion) since the first several episodes before the break will deal more with the events and characters of last season, the "Chapter of the Hatch."
So where are we? Oh yes! We left our castaways split into three (well, maybe four or five or six) separate groups, scattered in different regions of the show's geography....
Group 1: Saied, Jin, and Sun on the sailboat as part of the plan to stop Michael and 'take' the others by force. We last saw Saied in the abandoned others' encampment, separated from Jin and Sun who we assume are still at the boat. That short journey raised a couple of questions, the biggest one: What is up with the four-toed statue foot?
It's been theorized that it has no bearing on anything, that its a giant stone red herring. I guess we'll see. Will we hear more about it tonight? Doubtful.
The other question, what about the hatch doors at the camp? There wasn't a 'designation' on the Dharma logo, (swan, arrow, pearl, staff, etc.) only a box with 'DHARMA'. And of course there was nothing but dirt behind those doors. Which makes us ask, why was it under guard when they brought Michael in? Why? Just for show for Michael's benefit? Or did they cave it in on purpose once they left?
Group 2: The remainder of the castaways back on the beach, and more importantly, in the hatch. If you'll recall, after Locke's disillusionment in the Pearl hatch regarding the true purpose of "the button", he was determined to allow the timer to expire. At the same time, Eko had been "enlightened" by his experience in the Pearl, and was hell-bent on continuing the "experiment" and moreso stopping Locke.
It was revealed to us, and more importantly to Locke, that while the button-pushing was indeed an experiment, it also was vital to keeping the magnetic energy in the hatch under control. It was Desmond's failure to meet the deadline that brought their plane down in the first place. As the timer expired, Desmond at last proved his courage and constitution by going below and operating the failsafe key, bathing the island in a odd purple-white glow and loud throbbing noise, apparently blowing the hatch apart. Not before we see Locke, who realizes "I was wrong!" I wonder what this has done to his character? Is he broken? More determined? And what of Desmond?
Eko and Charlie of course were attempting to access the control room through brute force, and while we know Charlie escaped, we were left to ponder the fate of Mr. Eko, as the "Quarantine"-labelled hatch door nearly takes out Bernard and Claire on the beach. How will Eko and Locke resolve this between them?
Group 3: Probably the most important is our core set of characters, taken captive by the others, Hurley, Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. What's going to become of our heroes?! We know Hurley has been sent back to the beach to warn the rest to keep away. It's been theorized that they were taken because they were (some) the primary participants in the button pushing "Skinner box" experiment, as Gale told Locke, "the good ones." But why didn't they want Locke, also?
Of course the last we saw of the others, the man known as Henry Gale told them, "We're the good guys." What that means is still a mystery, and we'll likely be shown this season. Also of interest, they were all at a dock/port on the others' side of the island. So where else do they go and who comes to them that they need a dock, and need it labelled at that? We're also shown a bit into the others' culture, that there seem to be three authority figures, who don't apparently agree on everything.
The lesser-groups:
Michael and Walt set sail on a compass bearing where they will "find rescue." But will they? I would think that huge magnetic burst would have rendered the compass useless. But what do I know? How will Walt's absence play into the seemingly-paranormal events on the island?
The bunch on the Arctic research station, and Desmond's steadfast love, Penelope Whidmore.... Apparently the magnetic burst was a 'shot heard round the world', as Penny's been notified. So what's up there? Either she's only coincidentally involved in this research, or she's specifically looking for Desmond.
And lets not forget one more, well maybe not group, but person. Rousseau. While she didn't make an appearance in the finale of last season, her (inferred) daughter Alex did. It will be interesting to see how these two factor into the story this season, if at all.
So there you have it, a bit of recap and a few things to think about tonight. I'll be posting my rundown and review of 'A Tale of Two Cities' later tonight of course.
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