"Because You Left" & "The Lie"

I can't believe that LOST is finally back! It seems like it's been more than eight months since we last saw the show. I recently completed re-watching Season 4 and, in doing so, was reminded of just how much I love this show. And if the first two episodes of Season 5 are any indicator, there's going to be so much more to love!

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!!!

I was fooled with the opening scene as I am every premiere since Season 2. Actually, it was strikingly similar to the opening of Season 2 with Desmond in the Swan Station. It is an understatement to say that I was surprised to see Marvin Candle aka Edgar Halliwax aka Mark Wickman aka Pierre Chang as the focus of the first scene. If I hadn't seen the Comic Con video (listen for the voice around 2:35), I would have been even more surprised to see Daniel Faraday on the Dharma construction crew for the Orchid Station. In any event, what we all suspected is in fact happening this season: Time Travel!

"Because You Left" was an amazing episode surprising choked full of exposition. But even more than that, I loved the non-linear nature of it all. My favorite episode of the entire series thus far is, without a doubt, "The Constant." "Because You Left" is like "The Constant" on steroids! I still prefer "The Constant," but "Because You Left" was a really great season premiere. I found myself trying to keep track of where the Losties were flashing to in time and trying to think about what had already happened and what would be happening in the story as we previously knew it. Roxi and I had to keep pausing the show to discuss where they were flashing to within the time line that we have already seen. God I love this show!

I must admit, I kind of miss the flashback/flashforward motif that I am accustomed to, but the Oceanic 6 vs. Island stories really lend themselves to be told the way they have been in the first two episodes. After all, we are seeing flashbacks and flashforwards every time we are shown the Losties on the island.

On the island, I loved that Locke got to see Yemi's plane crash and then get to be there when Ethan discovered it. So did Ethan kill the survivor(s) of Yemi's plane crash? And Locke's reaction to Richard Alpert telling him that he has to "die" to save the Island was stunning. For better or for worse, Terry O'Quinn will always be John Locke. And speaking of crazy time travel stuff, I knew that Daniel Faraday's note about Desmond as his constant would be important eventually. I loved that Desmond realized how important that his dreamemory of his meeting with Daniel was.

And off island, it appeared, after the first episode, that all of Ben's plans were coming to fruition. Although neither he nor Jack had made contact with Sun, it appeared that the remainder of the Oceanic 6 would probably be on board with returning to the Island. So what about Sun? She really sounds ready to kill Ben. I don't think that she would be working for Charles Widmore per se, but in killing Ben, she might achieve his goal.

"The Lie" was also a good episode, but there was too little Locke. I can't help but be intrigued about how and why it is that he left the Island and, of course, how and why he died going by the name Jeremy Bentham. But it was interesting to see the Losties get attacked by the Dharma Initiative and/or the Others. I would imagine they were from Dharma seeing as how Pierre Chang had been recording an orientation film for the Arrow Station (for defense against the hostiles) at the start of the previous episode. But you never know on LOST!

It seems that Ben still has his large network of Others off the Island spanning from his meeting with the woman in the butcher shop to Ms. Hawking. I was convinced that Ms. Hawking would be revealed as Faraday's mother, but it was still cool to see that she did play a part in the episode. So Ben only has 70 hours to gather the Oceanic 6...that's about three episodes so I guess we can assume that Jack and Co. will be returning to the Island just in time for February sweeps.

All in all this was a great start to the season! I'm looking forward to more!