LOST Character Leaderboards, Season 4, Episode 3

Previous Episode: 323

Next Episode: 407

Sayid ↑1: My name is Sayid Jarrah, and I am a killer for hire.
Achievements unlocked:
Jin ↑2: I was going to add an achievement for "Running down and capturing a former Red Army officer twice in one episode", but I don't want to give those things away. So Jin just gets Awesome Points instead. (318)
Desmond ↑2: When the LOST writers set ye up as having a date with destiny, ye should run the other way, brother. (318)
Hurley ↓3: Dude, lying to Sayid? Not cool, dude.
Achievements unlocked:
Kate ↑5: From "Kate's Book of Dating Advice": If the guy you like starts talking to another woman, you should act extremely jealous. Boning his alpha male rival is a good way to get him back. (318)
Jack ↑1: Seeing as Locke is even more unstable and inscrutable than ever, you're looking calm and levelheaded by comparison.
Faraday: There aren't enough nervous science geeks on TV.
Achievements unlocked:
Sawyer ↓2: Aww, Sawyer's trying to friendly and nurturing. That's cute.
Ben ↓1: Oh, boo hoo, your mom died and your dad was a drunk. DOES ANYONE ON THIS SHOW HAVE HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR PARENTS??!! (321)
Achievements unlocked:
- What We've Got Here Is a Failure To Communicate
Sun ↓1: For once, I would like to see a flashback where the character just, you know, gets along with their parents pretty well. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? (318)
Charlotte: Meh.
Achievements unlocked:
Miles: Does the vacuum cleaner annoy the spirits, or just the viewers?
Achievements unlocked:
Locke ↓2: Wow Locke, you are becoming more psychotically obsessed and unlikeable by the minute.
Achievements unlocked:
- Pop Quiz, Hotshot
- Follow the Leader
Juliet ↓2: Well, at least you're actually doing something. Otherwise we would be 3 for 3 on Useless Blonde Chicks. (309)
Michael ↓2: "Gee, Dad, thanks for saving me! But did you have betray everyone and leave a trail of bodies in your wake?" *smack* "Shut up! You don't know what it's like!" (224)
Claire ↓2: Oh, boo hoo, fuck you.

Summary

Welcome to Wreeeeeeaauu, Season 4: Holy Fuck We Only Have Fourteen Episodes For All This Material. Thankfully, our cold open is not with "Downtown", but rather Hurley leading the cops on a high-speed chase. Looks like, for the crash survivors, we'll be getting only flash-forwards from here on. The Island apparently wants them to go back, and Ben's got a vendetta against somebody.

LOST's writers must have realized early on that the easiest way to develop tension and introduce conflict was to separate the survivors into two or more groups: beach and tail+raft in Season 2, Hydra Station and beach in Season 3, apparently some temporal wave anomaly shit in Season 5, and here in Season 4 we have Jack's group and Locke's group. This "Man of Reason vs. Man of Faith" shit is getting really old, especially considering that Jack did nothing wrong in calling the freighter, given the knowledge that he had. Jack's also getting the better deal here, considering that everyone who's at all useful, trustworthy, or sane is in his group, rather than Locke's.

Then comes the character introduction sequences. Season-opener character introductions have been a mixed bag: we've gotten "meh" characters like Juliet and Ana Lucia, but also badasses like Eko. Here, we've got a decent assortment of cool and boring:

Faraday is already delightful: there aren't enough nervous science nerds on TV. They've almost died, and Jack's holding them at gunpoint, and Faraday just wants to run a physics experiment. Wonderful. Also, thank you, LOST writers, calling Faraday's boos "Minkowski" is maybe the most subtle Significant Name that you've come up with yet.
Frank squints his way through his scenes, wearing a perpetual look of "Christ, I need a drink". Unlike Clan Shepherd, he at least knows how to be a lovable alcoholic.
Charlotte. Meh.
Miles is nicely sarcastic, and he can talk to ghosts. It'll be interesting what they do with him.

Apparently, it's an open secret that the LOST writers love having Ben get beaten up. Considering that he was punched, by my count, 16 times during these three episodes, that seems like a reasonable interpretation.

Wow, they are milking Charlie's death for pathos. And they should. His was the only worthwhile death scene this show's had so far.

Harold Perrineau's name is back on the opening credits. Ben has a "spy" on the boat. This better had not be leading the direction I think it is.

Still unanswered: why is the freighter crew here? Frank and Faraday make sense, but why are Charlotte and Miles with them? Why do they want Ben, and why did they know how to use Desmond as a cover? Who's the tall black guy that hired Naomi and pressured Hurley? What the fuck was a polar bear doing in the desert? People keep telling me that Season 4 is when LOST finally starts answering questions, and the writers must have been desperate for time, so let's get to it!