Lost (4.8)

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 9 PM

ABC

Lost, Season 4 - Episode #8 - "Meet Kevin Johnson"

Desmond hilariously watches as Michael and Sayid search for him everywhere. (ABC)

Manatee: In the first 20 min, I thought wow, it is much better to hear Marmot retell the episode than to watch it. But somewhere in the middle, I changed my mind, and WOW, the episode was very intriguing to me. I liked the change of location, not so much jungle becomes the show.

Marmot: It was a nice change of pace to get off the island. Were you able to figure out what was going on? You should have been, there was enough exposition. I'm surprised they didn't pause the action, have someone walk out and explain what's going on in every scene.

Manatee: I think I followed along, surprisingly since it was only my 2nd episode ever! But I guess some of my questions were about the “gay” guy who stops Michael from "killing himself?" And I am intrigued by the supernatural aspect... I get the pregnant women thing, and the healing powers of the island, but obviously people die on the island. But why won't the island let you die once you are off? Has that ever been explained before?

Marmot: The gay guy is named Tom. He's an Other, and he was killed on the island in last season's finale. There have been hints as to his sexuality, but it hasn't been explicit until last night.

Manatee: But wait... he was killed on the island? So he was in the flashback with Michael, who then goes on the boat, how does Tom get back to the island?

Marmot: The supernatural aspect may not be supernatural at all. The gun not going off may have just been that he was sold a faulty gun on purpose. (The Others are everywhere.) He was killed on the Island after the flashback (in the timeline). The Others used to get on and off the island with a submarine, but it was blown up by John Locke last season. (Jack was pissed)

Manatee: Is John like running his own revolution? And what was up with those 3 people going off to a temple, only to get shot?

Marmot: The temple is a BIG mystery. We haven't seen it yet. Locke is a believer in the "powers" of the island. He's the Man of Faith, while Jack plays the Man of Science role.

Manatee: I really liked the episode. I liked the way it moved, I enjoyed the story and the struggles of the characters. From a hard core lost fan, was last night a good episode?

Marmot: Last night was okay. It was nice to see Michael again, but since the story is moving forward so quickly now, watching the past did not have the same impact. I feel like what was shown last night - Michael returning to New York, Walt not speaking to him, how he got back - could have been told in half the time that it was. I think mostly because this is all information that we knew, or could conjecture for ourselves. It was pretty obvious who Ben's spy was, so Michael's return was almost certainly at the hands of Ben. Plus, Michael's been gone for a whole season, so it's hard to empathize with him. Especially when he acted so selfishly in his departure.

Manatee: That's where I guess I differ. I have not seen the last season, so everything I learned last night was new. There was so much mystery, yet I felt like I could stay caught up. It raised so many questions in my mind, I suppose mostly because I have not seen much of the show. I feel like last night's ep might have gotten me hooked on the show (though still not enough to watch the last 3 seasons!)

Marmot: You will.

Manatee: Why did those 2 guys set up Michael at the end? I understand he killed 2 women, and he is paying the penalty in his own way. What are they hoping to gain out of turning him in? Do they want him to be killed by the crew?

Marmot: That's what I can't figure out. I don't know what Sayid thinks he has to gain by turning him in. The only thing that make sense is that Sayid thinks Ben is pure evil, so anyone working for him must be stopped. But Sayid should be smarter than that; you would think he would just let things play out instead of acting on emotion alone.

Manatee: Do you think he has a plan, or was it just emotion?

Marmot: Unfortunately, Sayid is only used as a narrator and a plot driver by the writers. He has more exposition than anyone else on the show. I think his plan is to go to the island, deliver Ben and get the hell off. The only weird thing is that a few episodes ago, there is a flash-forward that shows Sayid working for Ben. The best part of last night's episode: no Jack and no Kate.