"Abandoned"

OCTOBER 30, 2010

FOCUS: SHANNON
EPISODE: 2.6
AIRED: NOVEMBER 9, 2005

I believe “Abandoned” is the only episode of Lost that actually cost me money (indirectly). My wife and I were driving a U-Haul across country to our new digs in LA at the time (I took two trips, one with my car and some necessities, then again once we had a place secured), and I was confused by the time zone “rules” for TV (and even what time zone we were in), so we pulled over extra early for the night so I wouldn’t miss it (since this was pre-Hulu, and my VCR, obviously, was in a box somewhere in the back of the truck). Had we kept going for a while, we would have been further along and thus gotten to LA one night sooner – our final night on the road was spent only about 200 miles away from our apartment. But that’s how good Lost was back then; if it was Season 6 I would have settled for a recap on Lostpedia.

Anyway, I remember being pretty shocked that Shannon got killed. The episode promos promised someone would die, and so when Cindy disappeared about halfway through the episode, I figured it was just her. So the shock moment really worked, and I was pretty amazed that Shannon died when they had finally given her her own episode (this would later become a tradition – people would die in their own centric episodes). Plus she had just started really hooking up with Sayid, and even with Boone's death in S1, I still wasn’t prepared for the hell they’d put folks through on this show. You just don’t DO things like this on TV shows! Especially when they’re the youngest female cast member. Well played, Darlton.

But it’s really not much of an episode otherwise. In hindsight the Walt stuff is even more infuriating, because his character’s arc was never fully realized (I’m still unsure if it’s really him she’s seeing or some sort of projection). And I could care less about Shannon’s back-story, which details that she mooched off her father until her bitch stepmother cut her off. Are we supposed to feel bad for her? Granted, the stepmom (Boone’s mom) is no prize, but she’s actually right – the girl needs to learn how to fend for herself. I’ve been employed in some form or other since I was 15 years old – I have zero sympathy whatsoever for people who don’t take responsibility and get a job, even a shit one. Incidentally, not long after this episode aired, when the editing job I was supposed to get in LA (why I moved there) fell through, I took a job at Best Buy, making 9 bucks an hour stocking (in some cases, making) shelves overnight. So screw her. (Boone: “Done.”)

Even the little moments are sort of bland. Rose once again claims that Bernard is alive, something that’s not quite as interesting now that we know he is, and once again Hurley is the one she says it to (and again he’s baffled, though at least he keeps it to himself this time around). There’s a mini-story about Claire not appreciating Charlie acting like Aaron’s father, which is OK, but since it’s the start of a terrible subplot (one of the worst in the series, actually), I could certainly do without it.

Plus, why is Sayid so dismissive of what Shannon saw? He’s been privy to some of the stranger things on the island already, is it really that far-fetched? It’s pretty contrived, if you ask me.

In short, I should have kept driving. RIP Shannon, you hot but annoying woman you. Also a temporary RIP for Walt, who wouldn’t appear again until the end of the season.

Where are we?