"Three Minutes"

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

FOCUS: MICHAEL
EPISODE: 2.22
AIRED: MAY 17, 2006

Lost had a lot of cliffhangers in its run, but I don’t think any got me as worked up as the one in “Three Minutes”, where a boat appears on the horizon just as the episode came to a close. It’s the type of thing that made me (momentarily) consider waiting for DVD, to spare myself the agony of waiting a week to get the next scene. Especially when it actually turned out to be something awesome (Desmond!).

Part of why I got so worked up, I think, is because my emotions were already in overdrive thanks to the funeral scene, which is easily the saddest in the show’s run. Since Hurley is our surrogate, it’s nearly impossible not to choke up when he delivers Libby’s eulogy, and Kate’s motherly affection to him is also quite moving. And when he looks at Michael all pissed off, and for a split second you think he might have figured it out, only to agree to come along on the trip – I mean GODDAMN that’s rich.

Speaking of the trip, I’ve always hated how convenient it was that the exact four people on Michael’s list were the ones in the Hatch at the time all of this went down. Maybe it was due to time constraints and they had to be a little lax, but it seems that they would have complicated the matter somehow by having Locke around or something. Granted Michael has to talk Sayid out of joining, but even that seems to be a “writers’ convenience” move, so Sayid can tip Jack off and also add some drama to the next episode (oh, and piss everyone off for four years with the four toed statue).

It's also rich with great character moments, which is impressive considering how much is going on plotwise. Charlie tossing all of the heroin back into the ocean (and making up with Claire!), Sawyer’s repeated attempts to bond with Jack (guess this one was written post fan reaction to "The Long Con", since Sawyer spends the whole episode going out of his way to be likable, even offering Jack a drink!), Eko’s new-found job as hatch protector... all great stuff. But my favorite moment has to be Eko’s story about the kid being afraid of meeting the dog he killed in hell, which is not only a cool story but also adds a layer to Eko’s character – he obviously knows that Michael is responsible, but, like Rose and Bernard in later seasons, doesn’t want to get involved with all this nonsense.

And nonsense it is – I still don’t get why the Others have the ruse of living in huts and not having clothes and such. I guess it’s just a way for them to psyche out the Survivors, but really? You’re going to walk around an island with no shoes just so you can get the drop on a guy named Hurley? Tom’s fake beard looks a lot better in this episode, however. And speaking of “hero” Others, we meet Pickett in this one, though he’s a bit out of character compared to the way he is in Season 3; he’s actually kind of nice here. I also wish Ms. Klugh was a more prominent character – she seemed a lot more interesting than most of the Others we got to know.

I know I said yesterday that I’d watch “both parts” of the S2 finale back to back, but I notice now that the DVD did that for me. Lostpedia has them listed as separate episodes, and obviously it’s been a while, so I couldn’t remember, but I guess they aired on the same night (as opposed to S1’s “Exodus” parts 1 and 2). So it’ll be just the one, and then we start Season 3 on Wednesday! Juliet!

Where are we?

P.S. This episode reminds me – I need to start using “caught in a net” as a euphemism for sex.