Namaste, Aloha and the Muppet Show

In the realm of Lost, as well as the rest of TV, I enjoy episodes that are either action or mythology-oriented. For the most part, I lose patience with episodes centered around emotions and relationships.

Even though I’d call tonight’s episode of Lost, Namaste, emotional, my reaction was different.  I enjoyed it.  It was a lot like a ‘set-up’ episode of 24, where characters and devices are introduced so the plot can shift into the next gear for the next episode.  Even though that’s usually a recipe for a so-so episode, that didn’t happen tonight.

First of all, things started off pretty quickly.

Even though it was hinted at a few weeks ago, we saw what happened to Ajira Flight 316 as it approached the island.  Frank, taking a page from the book of Captain Sullenbarger, landed the plane on the hastily-constructed runway that Sawyer and Kate were building back in season three.

The episode went back and forth between present day and the 70s, where we saw the DHARMA Initiative in full swing.  Me being a DHARMA junkie is possibly another reason this episode was fun.   We got to vsit the Flame, see the Swan in its conceptual stages, and were introduced to Radzinsky, he who would one day become a stain on the Swan’s ceiling.

The whole bit with Radzinsky designing the Swan led me to think that we’ll be learning more about this, which is nice, because we’ll be getting a payoff for all of these things hinted at years ago.

Anyway, there was some other DHARMA intrigue- such as Dr. Candle/Chang/Wickmund filling in at the orientation.  And then there was LeFleur and Juliet reacting to the arrival of Jack, Kate, Hurley and (eventually) Sayid.  This was where most of the emotional drama of the episode was centered.  Like I mentioned earlier, I actually could get behind this.  Unlike Kate and Jack, I actually like Sawyer and Juliet.  Here they’ve been living these past three years, hoping their friends would show up, looking for a way out of their situation, and now that everyone’s back on the island, their perfect little lives are about to change.

It is nice to see, in contrast to the past few years, Sawyer in charge and Jack relegated to following orders (especially while stationed as a janitor, er…workman).  Sawyer’s criticism of Jack in the closing scenes, that he acted without thinking and those actions didn’t work out well for all was tough, but fair.  And something that Jack needed to hear.

Elsewhen on the island, Frank and Sun took a little paddle to the main island (after ditching Ben) and hooked up with Christian.  Even though they’re in the ‘present,’ I have to wonder if it’s the same present we’ve seen before on the island.  Othersville looked bombed out, but it still maintained the DHARMA signage and the class photos inside the rec center, things that weren’t there in our previous visits to Othersville.  Is it possible that the past has been changed? Or are we just looking at things from a different angle?

I’ve never trusted Sun and think her knocking out Ben was the wrong move.  Serves her right to be following around a dead guy as a consequence.

Some other things about thise episode:

-The lack of previouslies was nice.  But seeing Sun, Kate and Jack as the first three characters this week made me shudder a bit.

-This is the third episode in which Flight 316 has been referenced.  But it still feels like it’s happening so quickly.

-Minor mystery solved when Annie told Juliet that the baby’s name was Ethan.  I guess she’s just glad it wasn’t Goodwin.

One final thing.  When Jin was visiting Radzinsky at the Flame, the two were watching a bank of monitors.  Some of which looked like island security.  Others looked like news.  But one of the monitor in the upper left seemed curious:

Allow me to zoom in a little for you:

Nice to know they can pick up the Muppet Show on Mystery Frickin’ Island.  Maybe if Horace invited Richard over to watch sometime, they wouldn’t be hostiles, but friendlies.

What did you think?