Season 1, Episode 2: Pilot Part 2

We begin to get into the guts of Lost as the in-fighting picks up and the personalities of the main characters come into sharper focus.

MAJOR PLOT POINTS

Charlie's demons extend well beyond his own drug use and the lying associated with. For example, his denial that he tossed his cookies in the bathroom as the episode opens. He believes himself to be a coward, which helps explain later brave action taken in an effort to save the group.

We also meet pampered (but ultra hot) Shannon and her brother Boone, who were on Oceanic Flight 815 from Sydney to Los Angeles in first class. Shannon doesn't want to participate in the group's effort at constructing some sort of civilization, because she's convinced rescue is imminent.

The fisticuffs first fly between Sawyer and Sayid, who takes umbrage to the con man's assertion that he crashed the plane. The stage is being set for Sawyer to be viewed as the meat-head, relying on his hillbilly prejudices as the basis to accuse the Arab passenger of crashing a plane. Tough man Sawyer appears to be getting the better of Sayid when the fight is broken up.

Shortly after, the first of Sawyer's many nicknames — Lardo, which is directed as Hurley — is trotted out.

Next, we see Kate bathing in the ocean in a sort of Bathsheba moment. The kings of the island — Jack and Sawyer — will come to covet the bathing beauty. She's alternately divide and unite the two, involving herself to varying degrees and at varying times with both suitors. Her desirability and the openness with which she struts is contrasted by Sun, whose domineering husband Jin frowns upon so much as an undone button. We also begin to see the seeds of Sun's discontent with her husband's possessive and jealous side, which will be expounded upon in later episodes. Bottom line: Sun is prepared to defy Jin.

I'm still not sure what to make of the Spanish comic book with a polar bear on the cover. But it seemed important enough to take note of, considering the prominence polar bears will come to play. Walt is enthralled with the comic book.

But he's also taken in by John Locke. The two are seen playing backgammon with dice made of bones, which Locke calls the oldest game in the world and notes its development 5,000 years earlier in Mesopotamia. The foreshadowing isn't yet clear, but given Mesopotamia's history as the cradle of civilization — and the fact we later see Jacob and his unnamed nemesis sitting on the same beach — the symbolism is striking. Black versus white, dark versus light — the iconic portrayals of the struggle between good and evil. It seems to suggest the inhabitants of the island are pieces in a game. The notion is reinforced in subsequent seasons.

Claire's baby kicks for the first time on the island after Jin serves her some food. We learn two things from the exchange: a baby will be born and Jin's not such a bad guy.

Later, on a venture into the jungle, Sawyer protects the group by shooting a charging polar bear. Of course, just how he came by the gun becomes a point of contention.

We also discover that Kate was a prisoner in the custody of a U.S. Marshal, who was seriously wounded by shrapnel during the crash and labors in and out consciousness.

Sayid also discovers Rousseau's signal, which has been playing for 16 years and 5 months, adding a new level of intrigue to the island and what's in store.

Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot Part 1

We'll begin at the beginning. Obviously, the first episode sets the scene, introduces several (but not all of) the major characters that will be important to the overarching storyline. Conflicts or challenges also begin to come into focus.

MAJOR PLOT POINTS

The episode opens with Jack unconscious in the jungle. When he comes to, he goes on a flurry saving fellow passengers in what we soon learn was a plane crash. Among those Jack saves are a pregnant Claire, Hurley and Rose.

The genesis of Jack's romance with Kate is introduced as he asks her to sew shut a gash on his side. We also learn that Jack's heroics are tied to his utmost failure when he severed the spinal sac of a 16-year-old during his first surgery. After that, he taught himself to let the fear in, but only for 5 seconds.

Jin and Sun are introduced with Jin being something of a controlling douche bag. He tells his wife at one point, amidst all the chaos, "Don't worry about the others. We need to stay together."

Among the other revelations, Kate didn't lose consciousness during the crash. She knew the tail section broke off. Later, as if to provide a small insight into Kate's world perhaps, we see her steal the shoes from a dead man.

The Smoke Monster terrorizes the survivors from the jungle, which complicates the search for the rest of the plane (and possibly other survivors). But a group ventures out during the daylight anyway.

Charlie, the world famous song writer and bass player for Drive Shaft, joins the search party, but only in an effort to recover the heroin he stashed in the plane's lavatory immediately before the crash. While at the plane, a nervous Charlie scores his smack, but the pilot — who turns out to be alive (aren't all the pilots in the show?) — is devoured by the Smoke Monster. Kate is forced, at that point, to let the fear in.

Walt's dog is omnipresent in the episode.

QUOTABLE
"Wasn't for me." — Jack upon revealing that he once took flying lessons

The Genesis of Tod's Lost Blog

So, I had never watched Lost before November 2008 when a couple dear friends — Matt and January Miller — pretty much forced me to take home the first season and watch it. The arm-twisting involved a free-dinner deal on Wednesday nights when the new season started.

Soon to be married, the Millers' nuptials took place Nov. 28 if memory serves. I got the Season 1 discs maybe a week before the wedding, which took place the Friday after Thanksgiving. I had finished it — and was absolutely, positively hooked on Lost — by the rehearsal dinner. Did I mention that Jan's brother, Mr. Nick Rogers (and you have to call him mister of he'll punch you in the face ... at least, with all the tattoos, 80-year-old women walking down the street who see Mr. Nick assume that to be the case), and I were ushers, so I got a free meal out of that deal too?

Anyway, I nabbed Season 2 and 3 before the newlyweds made their way to Cozumel or some such place in Mexico for the honeymoon. I finished them too before the week-long honeymoon ended. Unable to wait two weeks for Season 4 to come out on DVD, I watched it all online, going from never having watched Lost to having seen every episode within about three weeks.

It was a lot to process, but I was ready for Season 5 in January, which I watched with the Millers and my new pal Sage Isenmann most Wednesdays as the new episodes were aired. Jan cooked us all dinner, so it was quite a sweet deal for an overworked bachelor who mostly subsists (sadly!) on fast food.

Anyway, we all made a pact to re-watch the first five seasons in preparation for the final season, which kicks off in January 2010. Unfortunately, my life has interfered with our plans to do that together. But a deal is a deal and I decided to blog episode-by-episode in case somebody else felt the desire to catch up or just get a refresher before the new season.

New episode recaps will be be posted as I progress (and find time to write them). I consider this a service for my fellow Lost addicts. It's a labor of love, so I hope it's enjoyed.