"Adrift"

OCTOBER 26, 2010

FOCUS: MICHAEL
EPISODE: 2.2
AIRED: SEPTEMBER 2005

The weirdest thing about “Adrift” is that it was originally a Sawyer flashback episode, but they changed it to be about Michael during production, likely resulting in having to go back and make sure they had enough held shots of the other actor that would be long enough for the whooooooooooosh sound to play. I can see how it could be an episode from either man’s perspective, since it’s just the two of them on the raft arguing most of the time, but it’s kind of odd all the same, and seems to be the only time in the series’ history that sort of thing happened.

It’s a pretty good episode, though the flashback doesn’t really help advance the plot any, since it just details what we already know – Susan left with Walt, with Michael giving custody rights away. Sure it’s touching and all, but again, we already know this stuff, as his previous episode was pretty much all about how he got screwed out of having a life with his son. I don’t think giving more examples makes his current situation any more or less upsetting. We know he loves the kid and lost him before; why deprive us of Sawyer action just to tell us again? Female fans must have been livid.

The rest of the episode largely deals with showing more of what happened when Locke and Kate went down the Hatch, which I believe is the first time in the show they’ve basically had flashbacks on the island, since the bulk of it takes place before the events we saw in the previous episode. I love Locke in this episode though, he has no concern for the crazy guy with a gun, and just asks him about a million questions (and assumes he is “the guy”, despite not having any clue what Snowmen say to each other). And it’s hilarious when he convinces Desmond to tie up Kate instead of him. “She’s a fugitive!” The “fuck you” look on Kate’s face is priceless.

And we meet the Others! Or so we think. As we now know, the “Others” were just the tail section survivors, but damn that was one intense moment to see Eko and the other folks charging after Jin after Sawyer and Michael washed up on the beach. I also never noticed that save Eko, the other actors were clearly NOT the ones who would actually play those roles (Bernard, Libby, etc), which is the 2nd time the show employed a “temp” actor (Jack’s dad being the other). Also, I notice now – this wouldn’t be the last time Jin washes up on a beach and gets taken prisoner by terrified non-Korean speakers.

The Dharma logo also comes into play more, both in the Hatch and on the shark that menaces Sawyer and Michael (as Walt predicted!). It would get kind of silly over the years, how much stuff Dharma put their logo on (the fish biscuit being the low point), but at the time it was pretty cool, hinting at this corporation. All the great sci-fi properties have evil corporations involved – OCP, Weyland-Yutani, Skynet... we all hoped Dharma would fall in line. Sadly it was mostly just a bunch of hippie scientists, but still, they’re KIND of evil – who has the balls to brand a goddamn shark?

Also, Sawyer’s “We’re home” is one of the most heart-breaking moments on the show ever, in my opinion. You really feel for the poor sap at this moment. Especially after he spent so much of the episode being badass - dude pulled a bullet out with his bare hands! AND out-swam a shark! A hero.

Where are we?